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THE   UNITED    STATES 


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OF   AMERICA. 


GIFT   OF 
VJ.   H»    Smyth 


_  _! 
THE   CHAUTAUQUA   LITERARY   AND  SCIEN- 
TIFIC  CIRCLE.  I 
3foun^c^>  in  1878.  | 

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THE  REQUIRED  LITERATURE  FOR  1895-6. 

The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation  (illus- 
trated). H.  P.  Judson,  Professor  of  Political  Sci- 
ence, University  of  Chicago       $1.00 

The  Industrial  Evolution  of  the  United 
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Initial  Studies  in  American  Letters  (with 
portraits).  Henry  A.  Beers,  Professor  of  English 
Literature,  Yale  tjniversity 1.00 

Some  First  Steps  in  Human  Progress  (illus- 
trated). Frederick  Starr,  Professor  of  Anthropol- 
ogy, University  of  Chicago 1.00 

Thinking,  Feeling,  Doing  (illustrated).  E.  W. 
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The  Chautauquan  (12  numbers,  illustrated)         .      2.00 


George  Washington. 


^ff^.^^WV^A 


''■ > 

\ 


Cbautauqua  IReaDing  Circle  literature 


THE  GROWTH 


OF   THE 


AMERICAN  NATION 


HARRY  PRATT  JUDSON,  LL.D. 

n 
Head  Professor  of  Political  Science  in  the  University  of  Chicago 


FLOOD  AND  VINCENT 
Cbc  (Cbautauqua -(Ccntur)?  '^xzH 

MEADVILLE  PENNA 

150  FIFTH  AVE.  NEW  YORK 

1895 


By  Flood  &  Vincent 


T/ie  Chautauqua- Century  Press,  Meadville,  Pa.,   U.  S.  A. 
Electrotyped,  Printed,  and  Bound  by  Flood  &  Vincent. 


DEDICATED 

AS  A  TOKEN  OF  AFFECTION 

AND  ESTEEM 

TO 

WILLIAM  KEMP. 


M97452 


The  required  books  of  the  C.  L.  S.  C.  are  recommended  by  a 
Council  of  six.  It  must,  however,  be  understood  that 
recommendation  does  not  involve  aji  approval  by  the  Coun- 
cil, or  by  any  member  of  it,  of  every  principle  or  doctrifie 
contained  in  the  book  recommended. 


PREFACE. 

In  preparing  so  brief  a  sketch  of  the  growth  of  the 
American  nation  it  has  of  course  been  necessary  to 
omit  a  multitude  of  details.  In  doing  this  it  can  hardly 
be  hoped  that  the  author  has  avoided  the  omission  of 
some  essentials.  But  the  attempt  has  been  to  grasp  all 
the  cardinal  facts  in  such  way  as  to  show  clearly  the 
orderly  development  of  national  life.  The  colonial 
period  has  been  touched  lightly,  as  that  was  merely 
preparatory.  And  the  Civil  War  with  its  following 
years  has  also  been  passed  over  briefly,  as  being  yet  too 
near  the  present  for  adequate  historical  treatment.  It 
should  also  be  pointed  out  that  the  somewhat  topical 
plan  followed  implies  an  overlapping  of  some  eras  which 
results  in  apparent  repetition.  But  this  is  meant  to  be 
merely  the  examination  of  the  same  subject  matter  in 
different  lights. 

The  author  owes  special  acknowledgment  to  his  wife, 
Rebecca  A.  Judson,  for  valuable  suggestions  in  revising 
the  proof 
The  University  of  Chicago,  July,  i8%. 


CONTENTS. 

PART  I.— EXPLORERS  AND  COLONISTS  : 
1492-1763. 

CHAPTER.  PA(;K. 

L     The  New  World 15 

IL     The  Original  Settlements  ...       25 
in.     The  Struggle  for  Dominion    .     .      37 

PART  II.— THE  COLONIES  BECOME  A  NATION: 

1763-1789. 

IV.     The  Colonies  After  the   French 

Wars 55 

V.     The  Separation  from  England  .      68 
VI.     The  Evolution  of  National  Gov- 
ernment          84 

PART  III.— THE    DOMINANCE    OF     FOREIGN 
RELATIONS. 

VII.  The  Organization  of  the  Nation,    103 

VIII.  Commerce  and  Neutrality  .     .     .     116 

IX.     Federalist  Ideas 127 

X.  Society  Becomes  Democratic   .     .     138 

XI.  Jeffersonian  Republicanism  .    .    .     148 

XII.  Jefferson's  Foreign  Policy  .    .    .     161 

XIII.  The    National     Republicans    and 

Their  War  with  England   .    .     171 

PART  IV.— THE  EPOCH   OF   PEACE    AND    SO- 
CIAL  PROGRESS. 

XIV.  The  Era  of  Good  Feeling  .     .     .     189 
XV.     The  National  Republicans  .    .     .     200 


Vlll 


Co7itents. 


CHAPTER.  PAGE. 

XVI.     Local  Life 212 

XVIL     Andrew    Jackson   and    Nullifica- 
tion   222 

XVIIL     The  Panic  of  1837 234 

XIX.     The  Whig  Triumph 244 

XX.     American  Social  Life 258 

PART  v.— SLAVERY  AND  STATE  RIGHTS. 

XXI.     The  Missouri  Compromise  ....    273 
XXII.     The  Compromise  of  1850  ....     282 

XXIII.  The  Repeal  of  the  Missouri  Com- 

promise   295 

XXIV.  Secession  and  Civil   War  ....    304 

PART  VI.— THE  INDESTRUCTIBLE  UNION  OF 
INDESTRUCTIBLE  STATES. 

XXV.     The  Reconstructed  Republic  .    .    321 
XXVI.     A  Second  Era  of  Economic  Prog- 
ress   332 

XXVII.     Some  Questions  of  the  Day  .    .    .    345 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 

George  Washington Frontispiece. 

PAGE. 

Henry  Laurens 56 

Stocks 59 

Pillory 61 

"Westover, "  a  Colonial  Mansion  near  Richmond,  Va.  .    .  63 
Residence  of  the  Washington  Family  and   Birthplace  of 

George  Washington,  Westmoreland  Co.,  Va 66 

Old  Dutch  House  at  Kingston,  N.  Y 69 

The  Old  Senate  House,  Kingston,  N.  Y 73 

Reduced  Facsimile  of  the  Last  Line  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence,   in  Jefferson's    Handwriting,    with   the 

First  Three  Signatures 81 

Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia 85 

Liberty  Bell,  Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia 87 

Old  South  Church,  Boston 94 

George  Washington 104 

Bronze  Statue  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  .  108 

John  Adams 132 

Eli  Whitney 143 

Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckney 146 

Thomas  Jefferson 149 

Faneuil  Hall,  Boston , 159 

Isaac  Chauncey 173 

Stephen  Decatur 176 

Oliver  Hazard  Perry 177 

Capture  of  the  "  Guerriere  "  by  the  "  Constitution  "  .    .    .  179 

William  Bainbridge 180 

James  Madison 182 

James  Monroe 191 

John  Quincy  Adams 201 

Robert  Fulton 207 

Settler's  Log  Cabin 209 

The  Erie  Canal  at  Buffalo 217 

Andrew  Jackson 223 

John  C.  Calhoun 231 


Illustrations. 


Henry  Clay 244 

Daniel  Webster 245 

William  H.  Seward 247 

Martin  Van  Buren 249 

William  Henry  Harrison 251 

John  Tyler 255 

St.  Paul's  Chapel,  New  York 261 

Abraham  Lincoln 272 

State  Capitol  Building,  Raleigh,  North  Carolina 279 

James  Knox  Polk 287 

Winfield  Scott 289 

Zachary  Taylor 291 

Millard  Fillmore 293 

An  Emigrant  W^agon 294 

A  Modern  Ocean  Steamer 296 

The  ' '  De  Witt  Clinton  ' '  Engine  and  Coaches 298 

The  Fastest  Regular  Train  in  the  World,  1891 300 

Franklin  Pierce 302 

James  Buchanan 304 

A  Typical  Indian  Chief 305 

Executive  Mansion  (White  House),  Washington,  D.  C.    .  307 

Jefferson  Davis 309 

State  Capitol  Building,  Richmond,  Va 311 

Reduced  Facsimile  of  a  Part  of  the  Emancipation  Proc- 
lamation      314 

The  Lee  Mansion,  Arlington,  Va 317 

Andrew  Johnson 322 

Robert  E.  Lee 323 

Ulysses  S.  Grant 326 

Action  between  the  "  Merrimac  "  and  the  "  Monitor  "  .    .  328 

Samuel  J.  Tilden 329 

Rutherford  B.  Hayes 330 

James  A.  Garfield 333 

Chester  A.  Arthur 335 

James  G.  Blaine 337 

Grover  Cleveland 338 

Benjamin  Harrison 339 

A  Grain  Elevator  in  Chicago 341 

Statue  of  Henry  W.  Grady,  Atlanta,  Ga 343 

The  Brooklyn   Bridge 353 

The  United  States  Capitol  at  Washington 355 


MAPS. 

The  United  States  of  America Front  Htiing  pages. 

PAGE. 

Toscanelli's  Map,  1474 19 

The  Boundary  Line  drawn  by   King  James's   Charter  of 
1609  between  his   Northern  and  his   Southern   Land 

Grants 30 

The  Territory  of  the  Present  United  States  during   the 

French -Indian  Wars,  1 755-1 763 46 

The  Territory  of  the  Present  United  States,  1763  ....      49 

English  Colonies,  1763 67 

Boundaries  of  the  United  States,  Canada,  and  the  Spanish 

Possessions,  1782 90 

United  States  in  1790 112 

United  States  in  1800 136 

The  Territory  of  the  Present  United  States,  1801    ....    154 
The  Territory  of  the  Present  United  States,  1803    .    .     .    .    158 

United  States  in  1810 172 

United  States  in  1820 199 

United  States  in  1821 217 

United  States  in  1830 227 

United  States  in  1840 253 

The  Territory  of  the  Present  United  States,  1846    .    .     .    .    284 
The  Territory  of  the  Present  United  States  after  the  Mexi- 
can War 290 

Civil  War,  1861-1865 312 

Map  showing  Territory  acquired  by  the  United  States  from 
1783  to  1895 End  lining  pages. 


PART  I. 
EXPLORERS  AND  COLONISTS, 

1492-1763. 


THE 
GROWTH  OF  THE  AMERICAN  NATION, 

PART  I-EXPLORERS  AND  COLONISTS. 

1492-1763.     i.M'.Hy  i 

CHAPTER    I.  .^Z  \  ;..;  i^    ^ 

THE    NEW    WORLD. 

References. — Bancroft :  History  of  the  United  States;  Fiske: 
The  Discovery  of  America  ;  Winsor  :  Christopher  Columbus ; 
Winsor  :  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America. 

One  of  the  most  striking  facts  of  history  is  the  growth  The  rise  of  a 
on  the  American  continent  in  the  last  three  hundred  "^^p^^^""- 
years  of  a  nation  which  now  ranks  among  the  great 
powers  of  the  world.  When  the  sixteenth  century 
ended,  above  the  latitudes  of  the  sparse  Spanish  settle- 
ments in  Florida  and  Mexico  there  was  not  a  European 
in  North  America.  The  vast  continent  was  a  wilder- 
ness, whose  only  denizens  were  the  wild  beast  and  the 
Indian  savage.  To-day  there  are  over  sixty  millions  of 
European  people  dwelling  between  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
and  the  Great  Lakes,  all  using  the  English  tongue,  or- 
ganized in  political  communities  under  English  ideas  of 
law  and  liberty,  employing  the  latest  resources  of  modern 
civilization,  and  together  forming  an  independent  and 
powerful  nation. 

The  series  of  events  which  has  created  this  new  home  America  a  part 
for  the  restless  Aryans  is  no  mere  episode  in  the  world's   development.^ 
history.      Americans  can  make  no  greater  mistake  than 

15 


i6 


The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Meaning' ot"  the 
modern  age. 


The  fifteenth 
century. 


to  suppose  that  the  development  of  their  country  has 
been  isolated  from  the  forces  of  European  progress.  In 
fact,  American  history  has  been  at  every  point  logically 
and  closely  connected  with  the  general  movement  of 
social  evolution  on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean.  If  this 
was  especially  obvious  during  the  period  of  colonial  de- 
pendence, it  has  been  no  less  marked,  though  naturally 
ii)  seme  different  forms,  since  the  colonies  became 
ireei 

^'Tne  laeanjng,  of  the  four  centuries  which  are  just 
closing  may  certainly  be  taken  to  be  this — the  occupa- 
tion of  the  world  by  the  advancing  civilization  of 
Europe. 

Look  at  the  world  to-day,  and  what  do  we  see? 
Everywhere  European  ideas  dominant,  European  nations 
in  control,  European  capital  and  energy  developing  the 
resources  of  every  land.  The  great  Asiatic  empires 
have  crumbled.  But  two  remain,  and  of  these,  China 
yields  to  European  dictation,  and  Japan  has  frankly  ac- 
cepted the  whole  system  of  European  thought  and 
action. 

All  this,  which  seems  to  us  such  a  matter  of  course, 
was  not  the  case  in  the  fifteenth  century.  Then  Christen- 
dom— which  is  but  another  name  for  the  civilization  of 
modern  Europe — was  a  mere  island  in  an  ocean  of  hos- 
tile forces.  A  great  Asiatic  empire,  Turkey,  reached 
nearly  to  the  heart  of  Europe  in  the  East.  The  re- 
mains of  another  great  Asiatic  monarchy,  that  of  the 
Moors,  yet  lingered  in  Spain.  And  Turk  and  Moor 
alike  seemed  to  come  of  a  race  as  virile  as  the  best  in 
Europe,  and  as  likely  to  win  the  empire  of  the  world. 

Again,  Christendom  was  rent  in  twain.  The  schism 
between  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches — the  Greek 
and  the  Latin — represented  a  division  in  sentiment  as 


The  New    World. 


17 


utter  as  that  between  the  cross  and  the  crescent.  It  was 
not  a  united  Europe  which  faced  the  torrent  of  Asiatic 
conquest,  but  a  Europe  divided,  discordant,  mutually 
jealous.  And  so  the  old  Greek  Empire  was  overrun, 
and  the  Turkish  horsemen  raided  to  the  heart  of  Ger- 
many with  impunity. 

Moreover,    Europe  had  no  hold  in  any  other  land.    Europe 

.  ,  -^  '  r   isolated. 

America  was   unknown.     Africa  was  merely  a  strip  of 
Mohammedan  piracy  along  the  Mediterranean.      Asia, 
the  home  of  vast  empires  and  of  oriental  wealth  which 
was  proverbial,  was  just  the  source  of  danger. 

So  on  all  sides  was  Europe  beset.  It  was,  as  has  been 
said,  a  lonely  island  of  occidental  ideas.  All  it  could 
do,  apparently,  was  to  hold  its  own  against  the  waves 
which  beat  on  it  from  all  sides. 

The  process  by  which  this  weak  and  isolated  civiliza- 
tion has  become  dominant  in  the  world,  is  the  story  of 
modern  life.  It  has  been  wrought  by  the  action  of  three 
forces,  commerce,  colonization,  philanthropy.  The 
last  has  been  especially  potent  in  the  present  century. 
The  other  two  sufficed  to  spread  European  power 
throughout  the  world. 

The  foundation  of  power  is  material  wealth,  and  that  commerce. 
is  won  by  trade.  The  richest  source  of  the  merchandise 
which  all  men  desired — silks,  precious  stones,  spices — 
in  the  Middle  Ages  was  the  far  East.  These  valuable 
and  compact  commodities  were  transported  across  Asia 
by  caravan,  or  up  the  Red  Sea  to  Egypt,  and  thus 
reached  the  Mediterranean.  The  traffic  in  oriental 
products  enriched  the  merchants  of  Venice  and  Genoa, 
and  greatly  developed  the  shipping  of  those  enterprising 
republics. 

But  no  such  trade  was  possible  without  the  consent  of 
the  Turkish  Mohammedans,  w^ho  held  all  Western  Asia 


i8 


The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Fall  of  Constan- 
tinople, A.  D. 
1453- 


African 
voyages. 


Da  Gama 
reaches  Indi 


Columbus. 


This  day  was 
Friday, 


and  Egypt  as  well.  After  the  capture  of  Constantinople 
by  Mahomet  II.,  the  commercial  situation  in  the  Medi- 
terranean became  very  grave,  and  thoughtful  minds 
among  Christian  nations  were  turned  to  the  possibility 
of  finding  some  other  route  to  the  Indies.  Naturally 
the  first  efforts  were  directed  to  the  western  coast  of 
Africa,  and  voyage  after  voyage  was  made  in  the  effort  to 
sail  around  that  continent.  The  final  success  did  not  come 
till  1498,  when  Vasco  da  Gama  passed  the  cape  which 
Diaz  had  discovered  in  i486,  and  which  had  been  well 
called  Boa  Esperanya  (Good  Hope),  and  then,  pressing 
on,  at  last  reached  India.  Thus  the  long-sought  route 
to  the  East  was  found,  and  the  European  oriental  traffic 
was  no  longer  dependent  on  the  whims  of  the  Turks. 

But  while  successive  voyagers  were  pushing  farther  and 
farther  along  the  inhospitable  coast  of  Africa,  longing 
eyes  began  to  be  directed  to  the  West. 

The  rotundity  of  the  earth  was  not  for  the  first  time 
presented  to  the  world  by  Christopher  Columbus.  But 
that  venturesome  sailor  became  thoroughly  convinced  of 
the  fact  and  was  sure  that  in  it  lay  a  solution  of  the 
problem  of  the  route  to  the  Indies.  If  by  sailing  west 
he  could  reach  directly  the  rich  realms  from  which  came 
the  treasures  of  the  East,  not  only  would  the  as  yet  un- 
known dangers  of  Southern  Africa  be  avoided,  but 
Western  Europe  would  be  able  at  once  to  seize  the 
princely  place  so  long  held  by  the  Italians. 

It  was  not  easy  for  Columbus  to  get  a  hearing,  much 
less  to  find  backers  for  what  seemed  to  most  people  a 
hare-brained  adventure.  But  his  eloquence  and  persist- 
ence at  last  won  the  aid  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  the 
Spanish  sovereigns,  and  accordingly  on  the  3d  of 
August,  1492,  he  set  sail  from  Palos  with  a  squadron  of 
three  small  vessels. 


The  New    World. 


19 


Columbus  was  laboring  under  two  misapprehensions. 
He  thought  that  the  Atlantic  was  not  more  than  about 
2,500  miles  wide,  and  that  on  its  further  margin  he  would 
come  at  once  to  Japan.  In  fact,  the  length  of  his  voy- 
age from  the  time  he  lost  sight  of  the  land  of  the  Canary 
Islands  until  he  sighted  the  Bahamas  was  about  3,200 
miles.  And  the  distance  from  the  Canaries  to  Japan  is 
12,000  miles,  avast  continent  and  a  wide  ocean,  both 
undreamed  by  Columbus,  intervening  between  that  realm 


Fiske,  I. 
sqq. 


377 


Mistakes  of 
Columbus, 


:  (,/  Capricorn  I 

Columbus  saw  this  map  before  he 
sailed.  It  explains  the  prevalent  idea 
of  the  size'of  the  world  at  that  time 
and  bow 'he  expected  to  find  India/ 
where  be  found  Amecica; 


and  the  Atlantic.  If  his  sailors  had  had  any  notion  of 
actual  distances,  they  would  doubtless  have  returned  to 
Spain  in  a  panic,  leaving  the  voyage  unfinished. 

On  the  i2th  of  October,  1402,  the  eyes  of  a  European   This  would  be 

'       ^^.  '  -^ .  ^  October  21  by 

first  rested  on  the  soil  of  America.     This  was  one  of  the  the  reformed 

.  calendar. 

Bahama  Islands.      But  Columbus   had  no  idea  that  he 

had  found  a  new  world.     To  the  day  of  his  death  he 

thought  that  he  had  merely  discovered  the  western  route   The  discovery. 

to  Asia.     The  islands  among  which  he  cruised  In  that 

sunny  October  four  centuries  ago  he  supposed  to  be  the 


20  The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 

archipelago  of  Spice  Islands,  of  which  Marco  Polo  told 
The  Indies."  so  many  stoHes.  To  him  it  was  all  "  the  Indies."  The 
brown  natives  he  called  "Indians."  And  all  that  re- 
mained was  to  sail  on  to  China  to  find  the  great  store  of 
precious  metals  and  precious  stones,  of  silks  and  spices, 
with  which  the  Orient  teemed — to  plant  the  cross  of  the 
Catholic  Church  and  the  banner  of  Spain  on  the  verge 
of  Asia. 

Poor  Columbus.  His  name  is  immortal  as  the  great 
discoverer.  And  yet  he  never  found  what  he  sought. 
He  never  knew  what  it  was  that  he  did  find.  He  went 
to  his  grave  embittered  by  disappointment  and  in- 
gratitude. And  by  the  utter  irony  of  fate  the  name  be- 
stowed on  the  New  World  which  he  had  given  to  Castile 
and  Leon  was  that  of  a  minor  traveler  who  had  no  share 
in  the  original  discovery.  America  was  found  by  one 
accident  and  was  named  by  another.  ^'^ 

Subsequent  voyages  disclosed  the  truth  that  America 
was  a  new  continent,  and  that  the  long-sought  East  In- 
dies lay  far  beyond.  Meanwhile  the  successful  voyage 
of  Da  Gama  opened  the  route  by  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  and  so  the  importance  of  the  western  passage 
faded  away.  To  be  sure,  attempts  to  find  a  northwest 
and  a  southwest  passage  around  America  did  not  cease, 
and  the  latter  in  the  end  was  discovered.  Magellan, 
that  prince  of  fearless  navigators,  in  1520  with  a  Spanish 
squadron  sailed  through  the  straits  which  bear  his  name 
into  the  wide  Pacific.  But  the  eastern  route  was  the 
shorter,  and  the  Portuguese,  who  had  found  it,  soon 
opened  a  lucrative  commerce  with  the  Indies.  And 
other   nations  were   not  slow   to   follow   their  example. 


*  Americus  Vespucius  described  in  a  published  letter  a  voyage  in  which  he 
saw  a  continent  which  he  declared  must  be  a  new  world.  It  was  the  coast  of 
Brazil.  The  voyage  was  in  1501.  From  him  the  name  "America  "  was  given 
to  this  continent,  without  knowledge  that  it  extended  north  of  the  equator. 


The  New    World.  21 


Europe  at  last  was  independent  of  the  Mediterranean 
and  of  the  Turks.  And  from  that  day  the  Itahan  re- 
pubhcs  began  to  decay. 

But  the  New  World  had  been  found  to  possess  sources 
of  wealth  of  its  own.  The  spices  and  silks  of  the  East 
were  wanting,  to  be  sure.  There  were  no  great  hives  of 
industry  like  China  to  produce  rare  fabrics.  However, 
gold  and  silver  were  not  lacking,  and  in  the  conquest  of 
Mexico  and  Peru  the  Spaniards  won  vast  wealth  in  those 
metals.  And  the  more  rugged  northern  regions  abounded 
in  fish  on  the  coasts  and  furs  in  the  interior,  both  of  which  ^^^  p-  ^^• 
became  the  material  of  profitable  commerce. 

The  Spaniards  made  their  first  settlements  in  the  West 
India  Islands,  and  occupied  the  mainland  from  Florida 
to  the  southern  extremity  of  South  America.  Farther 
north  they  did  not  care  to  go,  as  the  luxuriant  tropics 
were  more  to  their  taste,  both  in  climate  and  riches. 
But  they  originally  claimed  the  whole  western  world. 
The  discovery  of  Columbus  was  the  basis  of  their  title, 
and  it  was  made  valid,  in  their  eyes,  by  the  action  of  the 
pope.  The  exploration  and  occupation  of  new  lands  thus 
far  had  been  made  only  by  Spain  and  Portugal,  and  there 
was  danger,  if  they  should  proceed  unchecked,  that  these  pCnugai. 
two  nations  would  come  into  collision  with  rival  claims. 
The  pope  not  only  considered  himself  the  proper  arbiter  of 
disputes  among  Christian  peoples,  but  was  especially  quali- 
fied to  settle  this  question,  because  islands  of  the  sea  and 
heathen  lands  were  claimed  by  the  church  as  the  peculiar 
appanage  of  the  successor  of  St.  Peter.  In  fact,  as  early 
as  1442,  Pope  Eugenius  IV.  had  granted  to  the  crown  of 
Portugal  all  the  heathen  lands  which  might  be  discovered 
by  voyaging  along  the  coasts  of  Africa,  including  even 
the  Indies.  It  was  evident  that  if  Columbus  had  pointed 
out  to  Spain  a  new  way  to  these  same  Indies  the  two 


22 


The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


The  pope 
divides  the 
world. 


June  24,  1497. 
It  is  possible 
that  Vespucius 
reached  the 
coast  of  Hon- 
duras June  21, 
1497.     Fiske, 
II.,  87,  note. 

1504. 


Colonization. 


powers  would  reach  the  goal  from  opposite  directions, 
with  disastrous  consequences.  Accordingly,  in  1493 
Pope  Alexander  VI.  granted  to  Spain  all  the  lands  she 
might  discover  in  the  western  seas,  and  fixed  the  line  of 
demarcation  between  Spanish  and  Portuguese  possessions 
as  a  meridian  a  hundred  leagues  west  of  the  Azores.  In 
the  following  year  a  treaty  between  Spain  and  Portugal 
moved  this  line  two  hundred  seventy  leagues  farther 
west. 

This  line  of  1494  resulted  in  the  claim  of  Spain  to  all 
the  western  continent  except  the  eastern  portion  of  South 
America,  which  was  afterwards  found  to  be  cut  off  by  the 
meridian  in  question,  and  it  was  this  last  fact  which  led 
to  the  settlement  of  Brazil  by  the  Portuguese. 

But  the  other  maritime  nations  were  not  disposed  to 
accept  this  partition  of  the  world  as  altogether  conclu- 
sive. An  Englishman,  John  Cabot,  was  the  first  Euro- 
pean to  sight  the  mainland  of  North  America,  and  French 
fishermen  began  to  frequent  the  banks  of  Newfoundland 
in  the  early  years  of  the  sixteenth  century.  It  was  not, 
however,  for  more  than  a  hundred  years  after  the  voyage 
of  Columbus  that  either  of  these  nations  made  permanent' 
settlements  in  the  New  World. 

The  Spaniards  who  first  came  to  America  had  no 
thought  of  making  a  home  there.  They  meant  to  get  a 
fortune  as  soon  as  practicable  and  to  return  to  Spain  for 
its  enjoyment,  but  in  many  cases  the  fortune  was  slow  in 
coming,  and  so  the  years  slipped  by  without  the  return 
home.  Presently  not  a  few  people  came  over  to  the 
New  World  who  had  not  made  a  success  of  life  in  the 
Old,  and  to  whom  one  place  was  quite  as  good  as  an- 
other. Then  there  were  priests  eager  for  missionary  tri- 
umphs, royal  officials  charged  with  administrative  and 
military  duties,  and  commercial  agents  whose  residence 


The  New    World. 


23 


abroad  was  necessary  to  the  due  transaction  of  their  busi- 
ness. In  these  ways  not  many  years  passed  before  there 
was  a  considerable  European  population  resident  in  the 
various  Spanish  ports. 

The  motives  of  English  and  French   settlement  were 
different  from  those  of  the  Spaniards  rather  in  detail  than   French  and 

•    1  Tv/r  •    1  ir  1  •  English  settle- 

in  prmciple.      Material  weliare  was  the  primary  purpose   ments. 

of  emigration.  But  there  was  little  hope  of  finding  the 
precious  metals  on  the  coasts  north  of  Florida,  and  the 
colonists  had  to  be  content  with  the  returns  of  agricul- 
ture, fisheries,  furs,  and  lumber.  These  did  not  offer 
the  sudden  and  great  fortunes  to  be  had  from  mines  of 
gold  and  silver,  and  required  a  longer  residence  for  the 
accumulation  of  a  competence.  Accordingly,  these  col- 
onies were  from  the  first  more  likely  to  draw  permanent 
settlers.  And  for  the  same  reason  they  were  apt  to  at- 
tract a  more  rugged  element  from  the  home  communities. 
The  French  occupied  the  St.  Lawrence  Valley,  while  the 
English  formed  a  series  of  colonies  along  the  Atlantic 
coast. 

But  the  seventeenth  century,  which  witnessed  the 
foundation  of  the  English  colonies  in  America,  was  sensfinsin  '^' 
marked  in  England  by  fierce  religious  dissensions,  which 
at  last  led  to  civil  war.  In  the  course  of  these  quarrels 
adherents  of  different  parties  were  at  one  time  triumphant 
and  at  another  time  overcome.  And  the  defeated,  de- 
spairing of  their  cause  at  home,  in  many  cases  abandoned 
their  country  for  one  in  which  they  could  work  out  their 
ideas  without  interference.  In  this  way  Puritan  colonies 
were  formed  in  New  England  (as  the  exiles  fondly  called 
their  transatlantic  home),  and  Roman  Catholics  settled 
Maryland.  The  Friends  (Quakers)  had  no  share  in 
the  wars,  but  they  were  in  little  favor  in  England,  and  so 
made  a  settlement  for  their  faith  in  Pennsylvania. 


England. 


24 


The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Growth  of  the 
colonies. 


Importance 
of  colonies 
learned. 


The  French  colonists  were  sturdy  Roman  CathoHcs, 
and  from  the  first  their  priests  and  monks  labored  ear- 
nestly to  convert  the  Indians,  with  some  success. 

From  these  various  motives  the  colonies  attracted  num- 
bers of  immigrants  and  gradually  became  reasonably 
strong  and  prosperous.  And  by  the  time  that  this  fact  was 
evident,  it  also  became  clear  that  they  were  a  source 
of  wealth  to  the  mother-country.  The  colonial  products 
— furs,  timber,  dried  fish,  tobacco — were  sent  home,  and 
in  return  the  colonists  afforded  a  steadily  increasing  mar- 
ket for  manufactured  articles.  The  colonies  also  were 
found  a  convenient  social  safety-valve.  As  has  been 
shown,  considerable  numbers  of  refractory  religious  sec- 
taries were  comfortably  got  out  of  the  way.  And  there 
was  also  afforded  by  emigration  an  outlet  for  uneasy  and 
enterprising  spirits  who  were  not  satisfied  with  the  hum- 
drum of  settled  life,  for  the  shiftless  ne'  er-do-wells  who 
could  not  make  their  condition  worse,  for  younger  sons 
who  had  their  own  way  to  make,  for  clergymen  and 
courtiers  for  whom  it  was  not  convenient  to  provide  at 
home. 

In  all  these  ways  Europe  gradually  learned  that  the 
new  lands  were  more  than  mere  mines  or  sources  of  silk 
and  spices.  They  were  a  valuable  outlet  for  enterprise, 
and  it  was  in  many  ways  profitable  for  European  people 
to  settle  permanently  beyond  seas.  Thus  trade  led  to 
discovery,  and  discovery  to  colonization.  And  so  a  be- 
ginning was  made  of  the  European  conquest  of  the 
world,  which  the  twentieth  century  bids  fair  to  see  com- 
pleted in  Africa  and  Asia. 


CHAPTER  II. 


THE    ORIGINAL    SETTLEMENTS. 


References. — Bancroft  and  Fiske 
States  of  America. 


Shale r  :     The    United 


occupy  the 
tropics. 


The  first  land  across  the  Atlantic  reached  by  Colum- 
bus was  one  of  the  Bahama  Islands,  and  from  that  point 
he  naturally  was  led  to  the  West  Indies.  Later  Spanish  The  Spaniards 
voyagers  from  these  islands  followed  rumors  of  gold,  and 
so  Mexico,  Central  America,  and  South  America  came 
gradually  to  be  disclosed  and  occupied.  Of  the  country 
toward  the  north  little  heed  was  taken.  In  1565,  to  be 
sure,  a  settlement  was  made  at  St.  Augustine,  in  Florida. 
But  practically  the  whole  Spanish  attention  and  energy 
were  taken  up  by  the  rich  tropics.  Thus  it  came  about 
that  the  temperate  parts  of  North  America  were  neg- 
lected for  more  than  a  century,  and  by  that  time  other 
nations  were  ready  for  the  task  of  colonization. 

The  successful  voyage  of  Da  Gama  in  1498  was  fol- 
lowed up  by  the  Portuguese  with  great  energy.  They 
held  firmly  to  their  right,  under  Pope  Alexander's  bull, 
to  a  monopoly  of  trade  with  the  East  by  way  of  the 
Cape  of  Good  Hope.  And  for  a  century  their  power  in 
Asia  and  its  islands  was  practically  unchallenged.  But 
the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  century  witnessed  the 
growth  of  a  great  maritime  power  in  Holland.  And  the 
fearless  Dutch  navigators,  fearing  neither  pope  nor  Portu- 
guese, pushed  into  the  eastern  seas  and  by  force  of  arms 
dispossessed    their    rivals    of  the    supremacy.       Mean- 

25 


The  Portuguese 
in  the  East. 


Dutch,  Eng- 
lish, and 
French. 


26 


The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


The  land 
adapted  to 
colonization. 


The  extreme 
North  unfit  for 
settlement. 


while  France  and  England  had  slowly  become  aroused 
to  the  wealth  which  lay  beyond  the  seas,  and  early  in 
the  seventeenth  century  both  powers  began  to  establish 
commercial  agencies  in  the  East  Indies  and  to  send  col- 
onists to  America.  Thus  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese 
monopolies  were  at  the  same  time  disregarded  by  eager 
and  vigorous  competitors. 

The  seventeenth  century,  then,  witnessed  the  occupa- 
tion of  the  temperate  region  of  the  North  American  At- 
lantic coast  by  the  French  and  English,  with  minor  set- 
tlements by  the  Dutch  and  the  Swedes. 

The  land  which  was  colonized  by  these  powers  was 
peculiarly  adapted  to  become  the  home  of  a  strong  peo- 
ple. From  the  Allegheny  Mountains  to  the  sea  there 
were  great  forests  of  noble  timber,  abundance  of  streams, 
and  excellent  harbors  on  the  coast.  The  climate,  unlike 
that  of  Africa,  or  of  India,  was  agreeable  and  salubri- 
ous. The  rainfall  was  ample  for  the  support  of  vegeta- 
tion, without  descending  in  the  tropical  floods  which  are 
so  destructive  near  the  equator.  The  regularly  recur- 
ring winters  brought  an  invigorating  frost.  In  nineteen 
twentieths  of  North  America,  in  fact,  the  winter  tempera- 
ture is  that  of  freezing,  and  snow  is  a  familiar  thing  in 
four  fifths  of  the  continent.  South  America,  on  the 
other  hand,  is  essentially  tropical,  not  more  than  a  tenth 
of  it  being  subject  to  snow.  And  the  tropical  and  even 
subtropical  parts  of  America  were  in  the  hands  of  the 
Spaniards.  But  there  was  a  wide  stretch  of  country 
north  of  the  Spanish  possessions,  and  altogether  suit- 
able for  habitation.  The  northern  quarter  of  North 
America  has  a  climate  so  bleak  as  to  be  unfit  for  agri- 
culture. And  even  the  hardiest  race  can  accomplish 
little  under  so  arduous  surroundings.  Certainly  no  peo- 
ple in  Europe  have  shown  more  vigor  than  the  Scandi- 


The   Original  Settleme^its.  27 

navians.  Yet  their  settlements  in  Iceland  and  Greenland 
have  made  little  impression  on  the  world's  history,  while 
the  Scandinavians  in  France  and  England  were  a  pow- 
erful element  in  the  development  of  those  countries. 
But  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Florida  the  colonists 
found  a  climate  and  soil  highly  suitable  for  agriculture. 
And  not  only  was  agriculture  possible.  It  was  easy  to 
practice  just  about  the  same  kind  of  industries  to  which   The  temperate 

^         ^  •'  regions  suited 

the  immigrants  were  accustomed  at  home.  The  same  to  Europeans, 
crops  would  grow  in  the  fields.  The  same  animals  would 
thrive.  The  same  trees  and  flowers  and  fruits  sur- 
rounded the  settlers.  And  so  the  difficulties  of  adjusting 
one's  self  to  new  conditions  of  life  were  greatly  lessened. 
The  early  settlements  found  certain  other  great  advan- 
tages. There  were  abundant  water-powers  in  the  numer- 
ous streams  descending  from  the  Alleghenies.  There 
was  great  plenty  of  timber  as  material  for  ships  and 
houses.  And  some  of  the  peculiar  products  of  the  New 
World  were  especially  adapted  to  the  use  of  pioneers. 
Maize,  or  Indian  corn,  would  readily  grow  in  the  rude  corn, 
clearings,  and  yielded  a  much  larger  crop  in  proportion 
than  the  smaller  grains.  It  afforded  meal  for  the 
planter's  hoe-cake,  or  mush,  and  at  the  same  time 
provided  food  for  the  inevitable  swine.  Corn  meal 
and  pork  were  the  staff  of  life  in  the  colonies.  Tobacco,  Tobacco, 
too,  first  seen  by  the  companions  of  Columbus,  had  be- 
come an  article  of  general  use  in  Europe,  and  its 
cultivation  in  the  southern  colonies  insured  a  valu- 
able article  of  export.  It  is  surprising  how  rapidly 
these  two  distinctively  American  plants,  tobacco  and 
the  potato,  had  become  almost  a  necessary  of  life  to 
people  who,  before  the  time  of  Columbus,  had  never 
heard  of  them.  It  is  related  that  Sir  Henry  Mor- 
gan, an  English  rover,  having  returned  from  America, 


28  The  Growth  of  the  American  Natiofi. 


Potatoes. 


brought  the  habit  of  smoking,  and  his  servant  on  first 
discovering  his  master  with  volumes  of  smoke  rolHng 
from  the  mouth,  in  great  alarm  dashed  over  him  a  pail- 
ful of  water  to  put  out  the  fire.  The  new  plant  was  at 
first  thought  to  have  extraordinary  medicinal  properties. 
But  its  use  had  so  great  a  fascination  that  a  few  years 
sufiiced  to  "make  all  men  kin"  in  the  queer  amuse- 
ment of  sucking  tobacco  smoke  into  the  mouth  and 
sedately  blowing  it  out  again. 

Potatoes,  ' '  battatas ' '  they  were  first  called,  were  found 
by  the  Spaniards  in  Peru,  and  sent  to  Spain.  From  that 
country  the  new  plant  spread  throughout  Europe.  Its 
use  increased  slowly,  however,  and  it  is  only  for  about 
the  last  hundred  years  that  it  has  come  to  be  a  common 
necessity.  Sweet  potatoes  were  found  in  Virginia  by  the 
early  English  settlers.  But  the  common  potato  is  often 
called,  oddly  enough,  the  "Irish"  potato,  although,  as 
has  been  said,  it  is  of  South  American  origin. 
The  "Indians."  The  native  inhabitants  of  the  Americas  kept  with 
Europeans  the  mistaken  name  of  "  Indians,"  which  thus 
embalms  the  stubborn  error  of  Columbus.  They  were 
savages,  to  be  sure,  in  most  of  the  continent.  In  Mexico 
and  Peru  they  had  reached  a  considerable  advancement 
in  the  arts.  But  this  had  not  been  accompanied  by  suf- 
ficient military  development  to  resist  the  superior  de- 
structive power  of  the  Spaniards,  and  so  the  wealth  of 
those  interesting  American  civilizations  served  only  as 
incentives  to  their  ruin.  The  Indians  with  whom  the 
English  and  French  settlers  came  in  contact  were  rela- 
tively few  in  numbers,  had  not  advanced  beyond  the 
Stone  Age  in  the  arts,  were  generally  nomadic  hunters, 
and  could  ofier  no  serious  resistance  to  settlement  by  a 
superior  race.  The  French  priests  had  some  success  in 
converting  the  Indians  to  Christianity.      But  the  efforts 


The   Ongi7ial  Settlements.  29 

of   English   missionaries   had  Httle    effect.      And  before 

Ene;"Hsh    fire-water,    Eng'Hsh   eunpowder,    and    EneHsh   Disappearance 

1-  1  1        ••  J       11  1       1  T     1  of  the  aborigi- 

chicanery  the  abonguies  gradually  melted  away.  It  has  nes. 
been  said,  graphically  but  with  not  a  little  truth,  that  the 
Dutch  mode  of  dealing  with  the  Indian  was  to  buy  Man- 
hattan Island  from  him  for  $24  and  then  cheat  him  out 
of  the  price,  while  the  New  England  method  was  to 
shoot  the  savage  and  then  take  his  land.  In  either  way 
or  all  ways  the  result  was  the  same.  The  natives  of  the 
great  continent  could  offer  no  effectual  resistance  to 
European  power.  And  however  much  we  may  sympa- 
thize with  the  dispossessed  and  often  ill-treated  Indian, 
we  must  admit  that  a  vastly  higher  type  of  life  has  taken 
his  place.      The  world  belongs  to  civilization. 

The  first  English  colony  on  the  American  coast  was  English  settle- 
that  at  Jamestown,  in  Virginia.  And  its  immediate  cause  "^^"^^• 
was  the  fact  that  in  England  there  was  at  that  time  a  sur-  Virginia,  1607. 
plus  of  unemployed  people.  Times  were  hard.  There 
were  many  soldiers  whom  the  peace  left  idle,  and  changes 
in  methods  of  agriculture  had  thrown  thousands  of  farm 
laborers  out  of  work.  To  provide  an  outlet  for  these 
unfortunate  people,  and  at  the  same  time  to  afford,  an 
opening  for  capital  and  enterprise,  King  James  I.  was 
induced  to  grant  charters  to  two  companies  for  the  set- 
tlement of  "Virginia."  The  English  king  claimed  all 
of  America  as  far  south  as  the  Spanish  settlements,  on 
the  ground  of  Cabot's  discovery.  An  unsuccessful  at- 
tempt had  been  made  to  plant  a  colony  during  the  reign 
of  Queen  Elizabeth,  and  in  her  honor  (she  asserted 
herself  proud  to  be  called  the  virgin  queen)  the  whole 
country  was  called  Virginia. 

The  London  Company,  which  had  the  southern  part   The  London 
of  Virginia,  sent  out  an  expedition  at  the  beginning  of  ^^'"p^"^- 
1607.     The  emigrants  entered  the  waters   which  they 


30 


The   Growth  of  the  Avierica7i  Nation. 


From  Hampton  Called  Hampton  Roads,  sailed  up  a  river  which  they 
favorite  resi-  named  the  James,  in  honor  of  their  king,  and  laid  the 
james.°     "^^      foundations  of  a  town  which  for  the  same  reason  they 


The  first  Eng- 
lish settlement. 


called  Jamestown.  The  early  settlers  had  a  hard  strug- 
gle with  the  rude  conditions  of  their  new  life,  and  at  one 
time  actually  embarked  in  ships  for  the  abandonment  of 


The   Original  Sdtlcnicrits.  31 

their  enterprise.  However,  such  succors  came  from  home 
as  induced  them  to  persevere,  and  gradually  the  colony- 
became  established.  A  large  influence  in  its  success  was 
the  cultivation  of  tobacco,  for  which  the  soil  proved  character  of 
peculiarly  adapted.  This  was  a  crop  for  which  Europe 
afforded  a  ready  market.  The  fact  that  this  plant  so 
early  became  a  staple  had  some  striking  effects.  The 
colonists  became  planters,  living  on  wide  plantations, 
their  homes  remote  one  from  another.  And  as  early  as 
161 9  the  sale  of  a  few  negroes  to  the  planters  from  a 
Dutch  ship  which  chanced  to  put  into  Virginia  waters 
showed  how  to  supply  the  lack  of  labor  to  cultivate  the 
new  crop.  Thus  it  came  about  that  negro  slavery  was 
introduced  into  English  America.  The  unemployed  in 
England  seemed  to  have  no  great  desire  to  cross  the 
ocean  in  search  of  work.  Some  gentlemen  of  good 
family  but  slender  fortune  came  over,  a  few  poor  people 
unable  to  pay  for  their  passage  bound  themselves  to  serve 
for  a  stipulated  time  in  order  to  get  across  the  ocean. 
Not  a  few  vagabonds  wxre  kidnapped  from  the  London 
streets.  In  1685  the  rebels  who  joined  Monmouth's  In- 
surrection were  sent  to  America  and  sold  as  bound  serv- 
ants. But  negroes  proved  the  most  profitable  sort  of 
labor. 

The  Virginia  colony,  in  accordance  with  the  express 
desire  of  King  James  I.,  had  the  Established  Episcopal 
Church  of  England  recognized  as  the  sole  lawful  form  of 
religion. 

In  1634,  however.  Lord  Baltimore,  a  Roman  Catholic  Maryland,  1634. 
gentleman,  was  allowed  by  King  Charles  I.  to  make  a 
settlement  on  the  shores  of  Chesapeake  Bay  for  the  ben- 
efit of  English  people  of  his  faith.  This  new  colony  was 
called  Maryland,  from  the  queen,  Henrietta  Maria. 
Its  land  was  properly  included  in  that  granted  to  Vir- 


32 


The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


ginia,  and  this  led  to  some  dissension,  but  Maryland 
continued  to  grow.  Its  chief  city  was  named  in  honor 
of  the  founder.  Religious  liberty  was  one  of  the  cardinal 
principles  of  this  colony,  an  enlightened  policy  which 
was  in  advance  of  the  age. 

The  first  settlement  in  the  Carolinas  was  made  in  1670. 
King  Charles  11.  was  not  very  scrupulous  in  keeping  to 
the  grant  his  grandfather  had  made  to  Virginia,  and  in 
1663  a  little  ring  of  royal  favorites  secured  from  the  king 
the  grant  of  a  large  parcel  of  land,  being  all  lying  between 
the  present  states  of  Virginia  and  Florida.  The  mana- 
gers of  this  company  were  wise  enough  to  follow  the 
Maryland  policy  of  religious  liberty,  and  thus  attracted 
to  their  colony  many  Huguenots,  who  had  been  expelled 
from  France  on  account  of  their  Protestant  faith.  * '  Caro- 
lina" and  "Charleston"  commemorate  the  name  of  the 
worthless  king  who  made  the  land  grant. 

Some  sixty  years  later  a  slice  was  taken  from  this 
grant  in  turn  by  King  George  II.,  who  made  a  gift  of  its 
southern  portion  to  an  English  benevolent  association. 
These  good  men  sought  to  plant  a  colony  for  the  benefit 
of  bankrupts,  who  in  that  day  were  imprisoned  until  they 
should  pay  their  debts.  If  they  could  not  pay  at  all  they 
were  left  in  prison  indefinitely.  The  colony  afterwards 
offered  inducements  for  other  discontented  but  worthy 
people,  Germans  and  Scotchmen,  and  in  the  main  fol- 
lowed a  liberal  policy. 

Thus  was  completed  the  settlement  of  the  southern 
group  of  English  colonies.  All  were  formed  under  grants 
from  the  crown,  in  each  case  the  name  of  the  colony  bear- 
ing witness  to  colonial  loyalty.  Maryland  had  a  religious 
motive,  Georgia  was  humanitarian.  All,  however,  sought 
the  material  betterment  of  the  immigrants,  and  in  each  of 
them  negro  slaves  were  an  important  element.     Ogle- 


The   Origiiial  Settlenie7its.  33 

thorpe  in  Georgia  tried  at  first  to  keep  out  the  negroes. 
He  also  tried  to  prevent  the  importation  of  rum  and  the 
immigration  of  Roman  CathoHcs.  But  antislavery  and 
prohibition  proved  unsuited  to  the  times  and  soon  had  to 
be  abandoned,  and  rehgious  intolerance  could  not  last 
always.  The  southern  colonies  also  had  many  descend- 
ants of  proud  English  families,  and  were  essentially  aris- 
tocratic in  the  structure  of  society  and  government. 

The  second  company  to  which  James  I.  granted  "  Vir-    New  England, 
ginia"  was  called  the  Plymouth  Company,  and  had  the   Smpl^^^!.''"^^ 
northern  part  of  the  continent.      But  the  first  settlement 
within  their  domain  was  made  without  their  knowledge 
or  consent. 

The  English  Reformation  in  the  sixteenth  century  had  The  Pilgrims, 
resulted  in  the  separation  of  the  Church  of  England  from 
that  of  Rome.  The  ritual  was  modified  and  made  Eng- 
lish, and  some  Roman  Catholic  doctrines  were  discarded. 
But  there  grew  up  in  the  last  years  of  the  century  a  large 
party  who  believed  that  the  Reformation  had  not  gone 
far  enough  and  that  the  church  still  needed  purifying 
from  what  they  held  to  be  essentially  Roman  Catholic 
practices.  But  there  was  a  group  still  more  advanced 
than  the  Puritans.  These  people,  Separatists  we  may 
call  them,  held  that  they  should  withdraw  from  the  state 
church  altogether,  and  worship  after  their  own  con- 
science. Being  held  sharply  accountable  to  the  law  for 
these  practices,  many  of  the  Separatists  left  England  and 
settled  in  Holland.  But  they  did  not  wish  to  bring  up 
their  children  in  this  foreign  land,  and  so  a  number  of 
them  determined  to  emigrate  to  America,  where  they 
hoped  to  found  an  English  colony  in  which  they  might 
w^orship  God  without  molestation.  Accordingly  they 
embarked  for  England,  and  thence  from  the  port  of  ^^^o. 
Plymouth  sailed  in  the  little  ship  Mayflower  for  the  New 


34 


The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Salem,  1629. 


Boston,  1630. 


1636. 


Rhode  Island, 

1636. 


World.  On  the  21st  of  December,  1620,  they  effected 
a  landing  and  made  a  settlement  which  they  called 
Plymouth.  They  had  no  distinct  permission  to  make  a 
colony,  but  they  were  let  alone.  They  managed  their 
own  government  as  a  pure  democracy,  and  under  the 
most  cruel  hardships  persisted  until  finally  they  suc- 
ceeded in  making  themselves  comfortable  homes.  This 
beginning  of  New  England  was  made  on  a  rugged  coast 
in  a  bleak  winter  and  by  a  handful  of  poor  people.  But 
the  foundation  was  laid  in  free  self-government  and 
sincere  religion. 

In  1629  a  Puritan  colony  was  established  at  Salem. 
In  the  following  year  a  large  migration  of  Puritans  oc- 
curred, and  their  settlement  was  made  at  the  spot  which 
they  called  Boston.  The  times  in  England  were  not 
propitious  for  Puritans.  Conformity  to  the  established 
church  was  enforced  by  law,  and  thousands  of  those 
stern  reformers,  despairing  of  victory  at  home,  cast  In 
their  lot  with  the  fugitives  beyond  the  ocean. 

These  Puritans  did  not  believe  in  religious  liberty. 
Few  did  in  those  days.  They  came  to  New  England  to 
worship  as  they  desired.  They  did  not  wish  any  inter- 
ference with  their  ideas.  Attendance  at  church  and  tax- 
ation for  the  support  of  religion  were  compulsory. 
Those  who  could  not  conform  were  sent  away.  But  the 
flower  of  English  puritanism  was  certainly  represented 
in  Massachusetts.  Many  were  from  the  English  univer- 
sities. And  one  of  the  first  acts  of  these  colonists  in 
their  wilderness  was  to  found  the  school  which  has  grown 
to  be  Harvard  University. 

Roger  Williams  was  a  young  clergyman  who  did  not 
believe  in  compulsory  religion.  Accordingly  he  was 
banished  from  the  colony  and  took  refuge  among  the 
Indians.      Being  joined  by  a  few  adherents  he  laid  the 


The   Original  Settleniejits .  35 

foundations  of  a  new  colony  of  which  rehgious  Hberty 
was  the  corner-stone.  His  settlement  he  called  Provi- 
dence. The  religious  liberty  of  Maryland  was  extended 
to  all  Christians.  That  of  the  Providence  plantation 
had  no  limit.  The  bulk  of  the  early  settlers  were  Bap- 
tists, who  were  driven  from  the  other  colonies  as  pestilent 
sectaries.  But  Jews,  Roman  Catholics,  even  men  with 
no  religion,  were  free  to  settle  with  them.  A  similar  set- 
tlement was  made  on  Rhode  Island,  in  the  Narragansett 
Bay. 

The  rich  valley  of  the    Connecticut  River  was  soon 

Connecticut, 

made  the  object  of  settlement.  At  about  the  same  time  1633- 
that  Providence  was  founded,  emigrants  from  Massachu- 
setts Bay  pushed  westward  through  the  woods,  and  be- 
gan several  towns — Hartford,  Windsor,  Wethersfield, 
Saybrook.  In  1638  a  settlement  was  made  at  New 
Haven.  These  last  good  people  adopted  the  Bible  as 
their  code  of  government.  The  people  of  Hartford  and 
the  neighboring  towns  met  in  1639  and  formed  the  first 
written  constitution  of  America.  It  was  more  liberal 
than  that  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  that  suffrage  was  not 
confined  to  church  members. 

While  these  stalwart  Puritans  were  establishing  a  safe  ^^^^  ^^^  _ 
home  for  their  churches  in  the  southern  part  of  New  shire,  1623. 
England,  a  colony  was  formed  north  of  them  on  quite  a 
different  basis.  Two  English  courtiers  secured  from  the 
corporation  which  had  the  monopoly  of  American  land 
north  of  Virginia,  tide  to  the  tract  of  land  including  the 
present  states  of  New  Hampshire  and  Maine.  Here 
setdements  were  made  as  early  as  1623,  for  the  strictly 
commercial  purposes  of  fishing  and  fur  trading. 

The  established  church  in  England  saw  to  it  that  laws 
were  enforced  against  all  who  dissented  from  it.  These 
were  the  Puritans,  who  setded  in  Massachusetts  Bay  and 


36 


The  Growth  of  the  American  Natioyi. 


'Dissenters. 


Pennsylvania, 

1681. 


The  northern 
colonies. 


Connecticut ;  the  Separatists,  one  branch  of  whom  took 
refuge  at  Plymouth,  and  another  branch,  the  Baptists,  at 
Providence  ;  and  the  F'riends,  or  Quakers.  These  last 
sectaries  were  peculiarly  obnoxious  both  in  England  and 
America.  Even  the  Puritans  of  Massachusetts  Bay  im- 
prisoned and  banished  them,  and  in  one  case  hanged 
five  of  them.  But  the  Quakers  had  a  friend  at  court  in 
the  person  of  William  Penn.  His  father  was  an  admiral 
in  the  British  navy  and  a  member  of  the  navy  board. 
King  Charles  II.  owed  the  admiral  a  debt  which  he  found 
it  convenient  to  pay  by  settling  on  the  younger  Penn  a 
tract  of  wild  land  in  America.  And  here  the  Quaker 
leader  brought  a  colony  of  his  people  and  founded  the 
city  of  brotherly  love,  Philadelphia.  Peace,  charity, 
freedom,  justice,  were  the  fourfold  foundation  of  Penn's 
colony.  And  as  the  Friends  were  an  industrious  and 
thrifty  people,  the  colony  grew  steadily  stronger. 

Thus  with  the  single  exception  of  New  Hampshire  the 
northern  English  colonies  were  founded  principally  for  a 
religious  purpose.  Maryland  was  the  only  southern 
colony  of  which  that  was  true.  The  northern  colonies, 
especially  in  New  England,  were  democratic.  The  town- 
meeting  was  the  unit  of  government.  And  they  were 
all  in  sympathy  with  the  movement  in  church  and  state 
in  England  which  culminated  in  the  overthrow  of  royalty 
and  the  triumph  of  the  Commonwealth  and  of  Cromwell. 

Thus  in  little  more  than  a  hundred  years  the  English 
gained  a  firm  footing  on  the  Atlantic  seaboard  of  North 
America.  Their  colonies  were  scattered  along  more 
than  two  thousand  miles  of  coast.  They  were  diverse 
in  origin  and  character  and  purpose.  They  were  not 
directly  connected  in  government,  but  they  were  alike 
in  being  thoroughly  English.  And  that  implied  that  in 
all  there  was  the  widest  scope  for  individual  initiative. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE    STRUGGLE    FOR    DOMINION. 

References.— Bancroft  and  Fiske  ;  Winsor's  Narrative  and 
Critical  History ;  Parkman's  Works  ;  Seeley's  The  Expan- 
sio7i  of  England,  Vol.  II. 

The  monopoly  of  Spain  and  Portup^al  in  the  trade  ^„    ^ 

^     J  r  fe  -j'he  Spaniards 

and  colonization  of  the  East  and  of  the  New  World  was   ^nd  Portuguese 

find  rivals. 

fairly  effective  for  about  a  century  after  the  time  of 
Columbus  and  Da  Gama.  But  by  the  end  of  the  six- 
teenth century  other  nations  were  ready  to  dispute  the 
prize.  By  that  time  the  Protestant  Reformation  had 
broken  from  the  pope  all  the  north  of  Europe.  The 
Scandinavians,  the  English,  and  the  Dutch  were  fear- 
less navigators  as  well  as  fierce  Protestants,  and  the  last 
especially  in  the  course  of  their  savage  wars  with  the 
Iberian  people  had  learned  something  of  the  riches  to  be 
found  in  India  and  America. 

The  Dutch  first  tried  to  reach  the  East  Indies  by  sail-   -phe  Dutch 
ing  to  the  north  around  America  and  Europe.      Failing  of^Good'Hope^^ 
in  this,  finally  a  Dutch  navigator  boldly  took  the  Portu-    ^^^^" 
guese  route  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.     His  course  was 
rapidly  followed  by  others,  and  in   1602  the  Dutch  East 
India  Company  was  formed.      During  the  seventeenth 
century  this  Dutch  company  succeeded   in  virtually  ex- 
pelling the  Portuguese  from  the  East,  and  in  taking  their 
place. 

One  of  the  sea  captains  employed  by  Holland  in  the  settlement  of 
attempt  to  find  a  northwest  passage  to  the  Indies  was  f^^^  ^e?!"^^ 
Henry  Hudson,  an  Englishman.      In   1609  he  found  the 


New  Amster- 


38  The   Growth  of  the  America7i  Nation. 

river  which  bears  his  name,  and  sailed  up  its  waters  for 
some  distance,  hoping  to  find  it  a  strait  leading  to  the 
Pacific.  Later  Dutch  voyagers  established  a  thriving 
fiir  trade  in  the  vicinity  of  Hudson's  discovery,  and  in 
1 61 5  a  fort  was  built  near  what  is  now  Albany.  In  1621 
the  Dutch  West  India  Company  was  organized,  and  in 
the  following  year  took  formal  possession  of  the  settle- 
ments. The  chief  town  was  New  Amsterdam,  at  the 
^^™"  lower  end  of  Manhattan  Island.      Fort  Orange  (Albany) 

was  the  northernmost  stronghold  on  the  Hudson,  and 
ports  were  established  on  the  Connecticut  River  near 
Hartford  and  on  the  Delaware  (the  South  River,  as  the 
Dutch  called  it)  below  Camden.  The  claim  was  made  to 
all  the  land  between  the  Connecticut  and  the  Delaware, 
and  a  purchase  from  the  Indians  added  a  large  tract  of 
what  is  now  the  state  of  Delaware.  A  treaty  was  made 
with  the  Indians,  and  the  colony  had  a  slow  but  reason- 
ably steady  growth. 
The  English  '^^^  English  did  not  admit  the  title  of  the  Dutch  to 

settfeme^nt?"^^^  ^^^  Ncthcrland,  claiming  the  whole  Atlantic  coast  from 
the  French  settlements  to  those  of  the  Spanish  in  Florida, 
and  westward  to  the  South  Sea.  The  exigencies  of 
European  politics,  however,  did  not  allow  a  forcible  dis- 
possession of  the  sturdy  Hollanders  until  1664.  By  that 
time  the  commercial  and  maritime  rivalry  of  England 
and  the  Netherlands  was  at  its  height,  and  King  Charles 
II.  granted  the  land  between  the  Connecticut  and  the 
Delaware  to  his  brother,  the  Duke  of  York  and  Albany, 
quite  regardless  of  previous  royal  grants  to  New  Eng- 
land. An  English  squadron  appeared  in  the  harbor 
and  took  possession  without  difficulty  of  New  Amster- 
dam. In  a  few  days  the  whole  colony  passed  under 
English  control.  The  titles  of  the  new  proprietor  were 
perpetuated  by  calling  New  Amsterdam  New  York,  and 


1664. 


New  Sweden, 


The  Struggle  for  Dommion.  39 

Fort  Orange  Albany.  The  Dutch  settlers  were  not  dis- 
turbed in  their  private  rights,  and  indeed  they  on  the 
whole  preferred  the  liberal  government  of  Englishmen 
to  the  arbitrary  methods  of  the  Dutch  company. 

Thus  ended  the  Dutch  attempt  at  an  American  col- 
ony. It  fell  into  English  hands  without  the  loss  of  a 
drop  of  blood.  And  the  Dutch  inhabitants  became 
easily  amalgamated  with  the  English.  Community  in 
the  Protestant  religion  and  in  essential  political  ideas 
was  stronger  than  differences  of  speech  and  of  historic 
origin. 

The  Scandinavian  attempt  at  an  American  colony  was 
even  of  shorter  life  than  that  of  the  Dutch.  The  Danes  ^^^s. 
had  occupied  Iceland  and  Greenland  long  before,  but 
those  bleak  possessions  hardly  added  to  the  power  of 
the  mother-country.  The  great  Gustavus  Adolphus  of 
Sweden  projected  a  settlement  for  his  people  in  a  more 
sunny  part  of  the  New  World,  which  might,  like  New 
England,  be  a  refuge  for  the  Protestant  faith.  After  the 
death  of  the  warrior  king,  his  design  was  carried  out, 
and  a  colony  of  Swedes  and  Finns  was  formed  not  far 
from  Wilmington.  Their  fort  they  named  Christiana, 
from  the  child  who  was  queen  of  Sweden.  Land  was 
bought  of  the  Indians,  and  the  colony  had  a  quiet  pros- 
perity. But  after  the  Swedish  power  in  Europe  was 
no  longer  able  to  protect  its  distant  emigrants,  the  Dutch 
in  New  Netherland  sent    a    military  expedition  which 

•'  ^  .  Seized  by  the 

seized  the  Swedish  settlement  and  annexed   it  to    the   Dutch,  1655, 

and  by  the 

Dutch  colony.  And  nine  years  later  the  English  oc-  English,  1664. 
cupation  of  New  Netherland  of  course  included  New 
Sweden.  The  Swedish  country  was  sold  to  Penn  at  the 
time  his  charter  was  granted,  in  1681,  and  was  known  as 
the  lower  counties  on  the  Delaware — afterwards  merely 
Delaware. 


40 


The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


New  France. 


Fiske, 


493- 


Voyages  of 
Verrazano  and 
Cartier. 


Settlement  at 
Port  Royal, 

1604. 

Quebec,  1608. 


The  French  rivalry  with  England  was  a  far  more  seri- 
ous thing.  Colonies  and  commerce  were  felt  to  be 
necessary  to  national  prosperity,  and  so  these  France 
was  determined  to  have.  A  French  East  India  Com- 
pany was  formed  in  1604,  fo^i'  years  after  the  English  and 
two  years  after  the  Dutch.  And  at  about  the  same  time 
determined  efforts  were  made  at  settlements  in  America. 

King  Francis  I.  of  France  had  no  notion  that  Spain 
and  Portugal  should  monopolize  the  world,  even  if  the 
pope  had  bestowed  it  on  them.  He  sent  word  to  that 
effect  to  Charles  of  Spain,  asking  if  our  first  father, 
Adam,  had  made  those  nations  his  sole  heirs.  "  If  so, 
it  would  be  no  more  than  proper  for  them  to  produce  a 
copy  of  the  will ;  and  meanwhile  he  should  feel  at  liberty 
to  seize  upon  all  he  could  get." 

The  first  Frenchmen  to  visit  the  American  coasts 
were  fishermen,  who  in  the  opening  years  of  the  six- 
teenth century  began  a  lucrative  business  on  the  banks 
and  coasts  of  Newfoundland.  An  Italian  commanding 
a  French  ship,  Verrazano,  in  1524  sailed  along  the  coast 
from  Cape  Fear  to  about  50°  of  north  latitude.  Of 
course  this  discovery  could  give  France  no  title  as 
against  the  English  voyage  of  Cabot  in  1497.  In  1534 
Jacques  Cartier  entered  the  gulf  and  river  which  he 
named  St.  Lawrence,  and  sailed  up  as  far  as  the  rock  of 
Quebec.  He  took  possession  of  the  country  in  the 
name  of  France. 

The  religious  and  civil  dissensions  in  France  during  the 
rest  of  the  century,  however,  prevented  any  definite  colo- 
nization. It  was  not  until  1604  that  a  permanent  French 
settlement  was  made  in  America,  at  Port  Royal,  in  Acadia. 
And  four  years  later  Champlain  established  a  colony  at 
Quebec.  Thus  was  laid  the  foundation  of  Canada,  in  the 
year  following  the  English  beginning  in  Virginia. 


The  Struggle  for  Domi7iion.  41 

The  main  source  of  wealth  in  Canada  was  the  fur  The  fur  trade 
trade,  and  to  carry  on  this  traffic  the  French  voyageurs  h"  missioifaries. 
ranged  the  forests  and  traversed  rivers  and  lakes  for 
thousands  of  miles.  Their  energy  was  paralleled  by  the 
tireless  devotion  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries,  who  endured 
every  hardship  and  encountered  every  danger  in  order 
to  win  the  savages  to  the  Christian  faith. 

Still    the    French    colony   progressed   slowly.       Few 
Frenchmen  cared  to  leave  their  homes  for  a  wilderness. 
And  unlike  the  English  colonies,  which  were  largely  the 
result  of  private  initiative,  in   Canada  everything  came 
from  the  king  and  the  governor..     But  the  vigor  and 
heroism  of  the  leaders  were  something  that  belongs  to 
the  romance  of  history.     The  fur  traders  and  mission- 
aries fraternized  with  the  Indians,  lived  in  their  villages, 
traveled  in  their  canoes.      In    1673  Joliet,   a  fur  trader,    French  ex- 
and  Father  Marquette,  a  Jesuit,   ascended  Fox   River,    uie'^MtssIssippi, 
crossed  the  portage,  only  two  miles  wide,  to  the  Wis-    ^^'^■^' 
consin,  floated  down  that  stream  to  the  Mississippi,  and 
descended   the  great  river  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the 
Arkansas. 

The  greatest  of  the  French  explorers  was   La   Salle.    La  Saiie 


In  1679  he  left  Montreal  to  find  the  mouth  of  the  Missis-   MiSssipp^to 

sippi.      On  Lake  Erie  he  built  a  sailing  vessel,  in  which   Mexfc!lfi6S2. 

he  made  the  voyage  to  Mackinac.    After  many  efforts  and 

many  discouragements,  he  finally  landed  where  Chicago 

now  stands,  crossed  the  portage  to  the  Illinois  River,  and 

thus  reached  the  Mississippi.     Descending  this  he  finally 

reached  the  Gulf  of  Mexico.      Here  he  set  up  the  arms 

of  France  and  formally  made  claim  for  his  country  to 

the  whole  valley  of  the  Mississippi  and  its  tributaries. 

He    named    the    new    province    Louisiana,    from    King 

Louis  XIV. 

Trading  posts  and  forts  were  established  in  the  upper 


42 


The   Growth  of  the  American  Natio7i. 


French  settle- 
ments on  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico. 


Character  of 
the  English 
settlements. 


1685. 


Character  of 
the  French 
settlements. 


lakes,  on  Mackinac  Island,  on  Chequamegon  Bay,  Lake 
Superior,  and  at  other  points.  It  was  not  till  the  second 
decade  of  the  eighteenth  century  that  the  French  made 
good  their  claim  to  a  footing  on  the  gulf.  Mobile  being 
founded  in  171 1,  and  New  Orleans,  named  in  honor  of 
the  regent  of  France,  in  17 18.  The  Illinois  country 
was  held  by  Fort  St.  Vincent  (now  Vincennes,  Ind. ), 
Kaskaskia,  and  other  settlements. 

Thus  while  the  English  were  scattered  along  the  sea- 
coast,  the  French  had  explored  and  occupied  the  interior 
of  the  continent.  From  Quebec  to  Mackinac,  through- 
out the  valleys  of  the  Illinois  and  the  Mississippi,  to 
New  Orleans  and  Mobile,  the  lilies  of  France  were 
triumphant. 

These  French  settlers  were  very  different  from  the 
English.  The  latter  kept  proudly  aloof  from  the  In- 
dians, merely  getting  the  land  in  some  way  and  building 
on  it  English  homes.  The  English  colonies,  too,  were 
quite  independent  of  one  another.  Each  managed  its 
own  affairs  as  it  saw  fit,  subject  only  to  the  British  gov- 
ernment at  home.  So  the  English  settlement  was  car- 
ried on  without  any  general  plan.  And  indeed  the 
various  colonies  were  so  different  in  origin  and  character 
that  they  had  a  very  limited  mutual  sympathy.  All  the 
religious  and  political  dissensions  of  the  mother-country 
seemed  reproduced  in  the  New  World. 

The  French  were  all  Catholics.  The  few  Huguenots 
of  the  early  settlements  had  vanished  when  Louis  XIV. 
revoked  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  and  the  Jesuits  enforced  a 
stern  uniformity.  The  French,  however,  had  more 
tolerance  for  the  red  men,  or  at  least  for  the  red  women, 
than  for  Protestant  heretics.  The  light-hearted  voyageur 
was  apt  to  take  to  himself  an  Indian  wife,  and  made 
himself  quite  contented  with  a  home  in  a  Huron  village. 


The  Struggle  for  Dominion.  43 


Centralized 


The  numerous  half-breeds  were  loyal  Catholics,  and  as 
canoemen  and  trappers  were  \  aluable  hands  in  the  fur 
trade. 

In  Acadia  and  in  the  valley  of  the  St.  LawTence  the  ^ 
Norman  and  Breton  peasants  patiently  reproduced  the 
farms  of  the  home  country.  But,  after  all,  the  great 
industry  of  Canada  was  the  traffic  in  furs.  At  the  ap-  F"''s- 
pointed  times  fleets  of  canoes  assembled  at  Mackinac 
and  the  other  forest  posts.  The  trappers  exchanged 
their  bales  for  clothes  and  provisions,  for  tobacco  and 
ammunition,  and  for  a  few  days  enjoyed  the  revels  of 
comparative  civilization.  Then  they  plunged  again  into 
the  forest  for  another  solitary  and  laborious  tour.  All 
the  French  settlements  in  Canada  were  under  a  single  government, 
authority,  as  were  those  of  Louisiana.  Either  from 
Quebec  or  New  Orleans  came  the  orders  which  kept  the 
scattered  posts  in  constant  touch.  And  this  centralized 
and  energetic  administration  was  able  to  look  far  ahead 
and  to  work  steadily  toward  a  definite  end.  Thus  in 
many  ways  the  advantage  seemed  to  lie  with  the  French. 
And  it  was  a  serious  question  at  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century  whether  America  should  be  French 
or  English. 

The  strife  was  in  the  first  place  a  race  for  land.  In  a  race  for  land. 
the  early  days  of  settlement  the  continent  was  so  vast 
and  the  colonists  so  few  that  collisions  were  not  many. 
But  as  the  British  gradually  pushed  their  clearings  up  to 
the  Alleghenies  and  the  French  built  a  chain  of  posts 
along  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Illinois  and  the  Missis- 
sippi, it  appeared  that  there  would  surely  come  a  clash. 
The  English  claimed  all  the  country  as  far  north  as  Lab- 
rador and  as  far  south  as  the  Spanish  possessions,  and 
west  within  those  limits  clear  through  to  the  Pacific 
Ocean,    on   the   ground  of  Cabot's   discovery   in    1497. 


44 


The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


A  race  for 
trade. 


"  Blood  and 
iron." 


Acadia  an- 
nexed, 1713. 


The  French  scouted  this  claim.  They  held  it  absurd 
that  a  mere  prior  glance  at  the  sea-coast  should  give 
title  to  the  land  as  far  as  it  might  go.  Actual  ex- 
ploration and  occupation,  they  asserted,  were  needed 
for  a  good  title.  And  as  they  had  actually  explored 
and  settled  strategic  points  in  the  valleys  of  the  St. 
Lawrence  and  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Mississippi,  those 
lakes  and  streams  and  all  the  lands  they  drained,  from 
watershed  to  watershed,  belonged  to  them  and  not  to 
the  English. 

As  each  nation  pushed  farther  inland  the  rivalry  be- 
came a  race  for  commerce.  The  French  claimed  a 
monopoly  of  the  fur  trade  in  all  the  territory  over  which 
they  asserted  that  they  held  sway.  And  the  British 
traders  were  bound  to  share  in  the  profits  of  that  tempt- 
ing traffic.  As  the  latter  were  able  to  offer  the  savages 
cheaper  goods  than  the  French  did,  it  was  hard  to  keep 
the  British  traders  out.  And  so  a  constant  quarrel 
raged  on  the  border.  English  traders  were  seized  and 
sent  back,  and  their  goods  confiscated.  But  others  took 
their  place.  The  French  were  attacked  by  Indians,  and 
found  their  enemies  supplied  with  British  muskets.  The 
English  had  a  savage  war  always  smoldering  on  their 
border,  and  charged  it  to  French  instigation. 

Such  a  rivalry  as  that  of  the  two  nations  and  of  their 
colonists  in  the  New  World  could  hardly  be  settled  by 
peaceable  means.  The  colonies  came  nearest  together 
on  the  seaboard,  and  here  blood  was  shed  earliest. 
The  Acadians  were  several  times  conquered  by  British 
arms,  and  the  peace  of  Utrecht  in  17 13  finally  gave 
their  country  over  to  the  English  crown.  The  French 
settlers  were  unmolested,  however,  for  many  years.  But 
in  1755  England  and  France  were  again  at  war.  The 
simple   Breton   peasants   in   Acadia  were  willing   to  be 


The  Struggle  for  Dominion.  45 

neutral,  but  would  not  take  arms  against  their  country- 
men.    And  the  British  authorities   settled  the  questions 
by  expelling  the  Acadians  from  their  homes  in  a  mass. 
Their  cattle  and  crops  were  seized  as  the   spoil  of  the 
British  officers,  their  houses  and  barns  were  burned,  and 
some  seven  thousand  of  the  poor  Acadians  were  scat- 
tered among  the  English   colonies.      So  arbitrary  and   Longfellow's 
cruel  was  the  management  of  the  deputation  that  families  is^Ised^onlhis 
were  separated,  and  for  a  long  time  the  colonial  papers   ^^^"^" 
contained    advertisements     for    missing    daughters    or 
fathers. 

The  same  treaty  which  secured  Acadia  (Nova  Scotia)  Newfoundland 
to  England,  also  conceded  Newfoundland.  English  secured,  1713. 
settlers  already  occupied  the  island,  but  it  had  been  fre- 
quented by  French  fishermen  for  more  than  a  century. 
France  retained  certain  fishing  rights  on  the  shore,  and 
certain  outlying  islands — which  belong  to  her  yet,  the 
last  remnant  of  her  once  vast  American  empire. 

After   the   loss    of  Acadia,   with  the  harbor  at  Port 

Royal,  the  French  built  a  new  citadel  at  Louisburg,  on 

Cape  Breton  Island.     This  w^as  a  strong  fortress,  and  a 

very  important  one.      It  served  to  guard  the  entrance  to 

the  St.  Lawrence  and  to   protect  the  fishermen  on  the 

coasts  of  Newfoundland.      Strong  as   it  was,   however, 

it  was  taken  in   1745  by  an  improvised  army  of  New   ,     .  ^ 

,  .  Louisburg  de- 

England  farmers  and  fishermen  cooperating  with  a  Brit-   stroyed,  1758. 

ish  squadron.  At  the  peace  in  1 748  it  was  given  back 
to  France.  But  ten  years  later  it  was  again  reduced, 
and  this  time  it  was  razed  to  the  ground.  As  the  Brit- 
ish already  had  a  naval  station  at  Halifax,  they  did  not 
need  another  on  Cape  Breton,  and  did  not  wish  it  again 
to  become  French. 

The  English  wars  with   Spain   in  the  time  of  Queen   England  wins 
Elizabeth  were  really  in  defense  of  the  national  inde-   ^'"^"'^^- 


46 


The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


England  and 
Spain. 


England  and 
the  Dutch. 


pendence.  The  Invincible  Armada  of  1588  was  merely 
an  attempt  to  subjugate  England  in  the  interest  of  Philip 
II.  and  the  pope.  But  in  the  contest  the  English  sailors 
carried  the  war  into  every  part  of  the  world,  and  learned 
to  despise  the  Spanish  claim  to  the  monopoly  of  America 
and  the  South  Sea. 

During  the  seventeenth  century  England's  chief  rival 
as  a  commercial  and  maritime  nation  was  the  Nether- 
lands. The  plucky  Dutch  seamen  were  found  all  ovei 
the  globe.  Dutch  merchants  were  quite  as  enterprising 
as  those  of  England.  The  first  English  East  India  Com- 
pany was  chartered  in  1600,  and  the  Dutch  East  Indie; 
Company  in  1602.     And  in  those  years  it  seemed  quite 


as  likely  that  the  Hollanders  would  in  the  end  be  the 
great  commercial  nation  of  the  globe  as  that  the  Eng- 
lish would  win  that  place.  The  English  founded  a  colon} 
in  America  in  1607,  and  only  two  years  later  Henr) 
Hudson's  Dutchmen  sailed  up  the  river  which  was  to  b( 


The  Struggle  for  Dominion.  47 


the  center  of  Dutch  America.  There  was  a  series  of 
national  wars  in  which  the  balance  hung  pretty  even,  but 
on  the  whole  the  advantage  was  with  England,  and  at 
any  rate  the  Dutch  colony  of  New  Netherland  fell  into 
English  hands. 

The  next  great  rival  of  England  was  France.  The  England  and 
French,  too,  as  we  have  seen,  entered  the  race  for  com- 
merce and  colonies.  They  made  settlements  in  America 
and  established  factories  in  India.  And  this  rivalry 
finally  led  to  actual  hostilities — a  ' '  hundred  years'  war, ' ' 
or  series  of  wars,  which  began  in  1689  when  the  Stuart 
kings,  mere  pensioners  of  France,  were  finally  driven 
from  the  throne  of  England,  and  only  ended  in  1815 
when  the  star  of  Napoleon  sank  in  blood  on  the  field 
of  Waterloo.  Of  course  complications  of  European 
politics  were  prominent  factors  in  determining  inter- 
national relations.  But  back  of  all  was  the  determi- 
nation of  England  to  control  the  trade  of  the  world,  and 
the  resolute  efibrt  of  France  to  share  in  this  great  source 
of  wealth  and  power.  Whenever  the  two  nations  were 
at  war,  and  often  when  they  were  not,  hostilities  raged 
on  the  American  frontiers. 

The  first  war  (1689-97)  was  niarked  in  America  by  The  first  war 
Indian  raids  from  Canada  upon  the  exposed  settlements  ^^^9-97- 
in  New  York  and  Massachusetts.  In  return  the  col- 
onists captured  Port  Royal,  but  it  was  given  back  to 
France.  The  peace  of  Ryswick  (1697)  left  American 
territory  unchanged.  The  only  result  was  mutual  ex- 
asperation. 

The  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession  (1702-13)  at  once   -phe  second 
led  to  a  renewal  of  the  bloody  frontier  skirmishes.      The   ^^'''  ^702-13. 
New  Englanders  again   captured   Port  Royal,  and   this 
time  they  held  it.      An  attempt  to  get  Quebec  failed  dis- 
astrously.    The    peace    of   Utrecht   (17 13)    yielded    to   Pp. 44-5. 


48 


The   Growth  of  the  America?i  Natioji. 


The  third  war, 

1744-48. 


P.  45. 


The  fourth  war, 
1756-63. 


1754. 


1755. 


Braddock's 
defeat,  1755. 


1758. 


England  Hudson's  Bay  and  Strait,  Newfoundland,  and 
Acadia.  Thus  a  considerable  part  of  New  France  was 
won,  including  the  original  settlement  at  Port  Royal. 

The  War  of  the  Austrian  Succession  (1744-48)  was 
marked  in  the  New  World  by  the  brilliant  success  of  the 
New  England  colonists  in  capturing  the  great  fortress  of 
Louisburg.  To  be  sure,  the  peace  of  1748  restored  this 
prize  to  France,  but  the  achievement  served  greatly  to 
encourage  the  colonists,  and  to  open  their  eyes  as  to 
their  own  power  in  war. 

The  Seven  Years'  War  broke  out  in  Europe  in  1756  and 
ended  with  the  treaty  of  Paris  in  1763.  But  hostilities 
began  in  America  two  years  earlier. 

By  this  time  the  English  colonies  had  developed  a  vig- 
orous life.  They  had  a  population  of  over  a  million,  and 
large  resources  available  for  war.  The  French,  on  the 
other  hand,  had  only  about  sixty-five  thousand  people  in 
the  St.  Lawrence  Valley.  They  were  a  handful.  But 
their  leaders  were  full  of  spirit  and  energy.  To  head  off 
the  British  traders  they  seized  the  junction  of  the  Alle- 
gheny and  Monongahela  Rivers  and  built  there  a  fort 
which  they  named  Duquesne.  This  was  on  ground 
which  the  English  claimed,  and  measures  were  taken  to 
dislodge  the  enemy.  A  British  army  moved  through 
the  woods  to  attack  the  fort,  but  was  surprised  and  cut 
to  pieces  while  tangled  in  the  wilderness.  Other  ex- 
peditions in  the  North  also  failed.  The  French  had  forti- 
fied the  line  of  Lakes  George  and  Champlain,  and  the 
Niagara  River.  So  the  war  languished  till  Pitt  became 
prime  minister  of  England.  Then  genius  and  energy 
displaced  the  feebleness  of  previous  years.  Fort  Du- 
quesne was  taken,  and  thus  the  Ohio  Valley  was  wrested 
from  France.  Fort  Niagara  fell,  cutting  ofi"  the  route 
to    the    upper   lakes.      Ticonderoga    and    Crown    Point 


The  Struggle  for  Dominion. 


49 


were  seized.  Louisburg-  surrendered,  and  finally  a 
strong  attack  was  made  on  the  center  of  French  power  ^759- 
at  Quebec.  Wolfe  led  the  English,  and  found  a  worthy 
foe  in  the  French  commander,  Montcalm.  After  many 
failures,  the  British  general  succeeded  in  bringing  his 
adversary  to  battle,  and  was  completely  victorious.  Both 
commanders  fell.  In  a  few  days  Quebec  surrendered. 
The  next  year  the  last  French  army  in  America  was  de- 
feated, Montreal  was  captured,  and  the  war  in  America 
was  ended. 

The  peace  of  1763  yielded  to  England  all  the  French   pg^ce  of  Paris, 
possessions    east   of  the   Mississippi.      In  the  previous   1763- 


n- 


English  Pass. 

Spanish  i^sa.^sa 
Oregon  Ouun.  mrmn 


^ :.a 


The  Territory  of  the  Present 

UNITED  STATES 

AfttT  Feb.  10, 1763. 

Result  of  the  French  and 

Indim  Wars. 


year  the  French  king  had  ceded  to  his  ally,  the  king  of 
Spain,  the  city  of  New  Orleans  and  all  the  French 
claims  west  of  the  Mississippi,  as  recompense  for  losses 
sustained  in  the  cause  of  France. 

Thus  ended  the  French  rivalry  with  England  in  Amer- 
ica.    New    France,    like    New    Netherland   and    New 


50 


The   Growth  of  the  American  Natio?i. 


Triumph  of 
England  in 
America. 


Sweden,  had  been  taken  by  force  of  arms  under  the 
British  flag.  England  now  had  no  partner  in  North 
America  but  Spain.  And  that  nation  was  by  this  time 
so  feeble  as  not  to  be  dangerous.  Besides,  the  Spanish 
possessions  were  in  the  southern  and  tropical  lands, 
which  England  as  yet  did  not  covet.  What  would  have 
been  the  case  if  Great  Britain  had  not  lost  her  colonies 
a  few  years  later,  is  quite  another  question. 


Discovery. 


SUMMARY    OF    PART    I. 

Columbus,  in  1492,  while  sailing  west  in  order  to 
reach  Asia,  found  a  cluster  of  islands  which  he  supposed 
to  be  outlying  parts  of  the  Indies  which  he  was  seek- 
ing. He  never  knew  his  error,  and  it  was  years  before 
it  began  even  to  be  suspected  that  there  was  a  new  con- 
tinent. Even  when  Balboa  in  15 13  discovered  what  he 
called  the  South  Sea  he  had  no  idea  that  it  was  a  vast 
ocean.  The  name  America  was  first  given  to  what  we 
know  as  South  America,  which  was  gradually  disclosed 
by  successive  Spanish  and  Portuguese  voyages.  Magel- 
lan in  1520  found  a  passage  from  the  Atlantic  to  the 
South  Sea.  To  his  amazement  he  discovered  the  latter 
to  be  a  vast  ocean,  which  he  called  the  Pacific.  Even 
after  South  America  was  pretty  well  marked  out  there 
long  lingered  the  notion  that  the  northern  lands  were 
connected  with  Asia.  It  was  not  until  the  voyages  of 
Bering  in  1728  and  1741  that  the  eastern  limits  of  Asia 
and  the  western  limits  of  America  were  defined. 

There  are  traditions  that  the  eastern  coast  of  North 
America  was  visited  by  Scandinavians  some  five  cen- 
turies before  the  time  of  Columbus.  Whether  this  is 
true  or  not  is  of  small  account,  because  nothing  came  of 


Summary  of  Part  I.  51 


it.  The  voyage  of  Cabot  in  1497  practically  marks  the 
discovery  of  those  coasts  by  Europeans,  and  on  that 
voyage  England  based  her  claim  to  the  continent. 

The  Spaniards  and  Portuguese  settled  and  held  the  settlement. 
Americas  from  Florida  to  Cape  Horn  without  inter- 
ference. The  sixteenth  century  is  filled  with  their  ex- 
plorations and  conquests.  It  was  not  until  the  seven- 
teenth century  that  the  other  maritime  powers  began  a 
serious  rivalry.  The  Dutch  and  English,  and  later  the 
French,  entered  systematically  on  the  Asiatic  trade,  thus 
interfering  with  the  Portuguese  monopoly.  And  all 
three  of  those  nations,  as  well  as  the  Swedes,  set  out  to 
colonize  and  hold  America.  The  little  Swedish  settle- 
ment in  Delaware  was  seized  by  the  Dutch,  and  the  lat- 
ter in  turn  w^ere  conquered  by  an  English  expedition. 
The  English  colonies  were  scattered  along  the  Atlantic 
coast,  while  the  French  penetrated  the  valleys  of  the 
St.  Lawrence  and  the  Mississippi.  The  long  struggle 
between  these  rival  civilizations  for  North  America  was   ^^ruggie  for 

dominion. 

ended  in  1763  by  the  victory  of  the  English.  The  St. 
Lawrence  and  Ohio  Valleys  went  to  them,  while  the 
western  side  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  France  ceded  to 
Spain.  Thus  the  French  were  eliminated  from  the 
North  American  continent,  and  its  European  possessions 
were  reduced  to  Spain  and  England. 


PART  II. 
THE  COLONIES  BECOME  A  NATION, 

1763-1789. 


The  population. 


Europeans. 


PART  II.-THE  COLONIES  BECOME  A  NATION. 

1763-1789. 

CHAPTER    IV. 

THE  COLONIES  AFTER  THE  FRENCH  WARS. 

In  1763,  when  the  French  king  reUnquished  his 
American  possessions  to  the  victorious  Enghsh,  the  At- 
lantic colonies  had  been  founded  for  a  century  and  a 
half.  Their  growth  had  been  slow,  but  yet  steady  and 
vigorous.  There  was  now  a  considerable  population  of 
people  who,  while  natives  of  the  New  World,  were 
European  in  race.  They  were,  however,  strongly  at- 
tached to  their  American  home  and  their  American  cus- 
toms. It  is  hard  to  estimate  the  numbers  of  this  popu- 
lation with  much  exactness,  as  no  census  was  taken  till 
1790.  But  there  were  doubtless  upwards  of  a  million. 
Massachusetts  was  by  far  the  most  populous,  having  Bancroft,  in. 
more  than  200,000,  while  Georgia  had,  perhaps,  5,000 
or  10,000. 

In  these  same  colonies  there  was  another  class  of  im- 
migrants from  the  eastern  hemisphere — if  the  name  im- 
migrant can  properly  be  applied  to  people  whose  change 
of  home  was  quite  involuntary.  Negro  slavery  was  a 
common  fact  in  the  eighteenth  century.  It  had  begun  Africans, 
among  the  European  nations  as  early  as  1442,  when  a 
Portuguese  explorer  brought  a  cargo  of  black  slaves  to 
Lisbon.  The  Spaniards  found  out  at  an  early  period 
that  their  Indian  slaves  died  with  frightful  rapidity  under 
the  exhausting  labor  of  the  mines,  and  in  the  opening 
years  of  the  sixteenth  century  trial  had  been  made  of 


56 


The   Growth  of  the  A7nerican  Nation. 


European 
nationalities. 


Scotch  and 
Scotch-Irish. 


French 
Huguenots. 


the  more  robust  Africans.  Their  importation  afterwards 
became  a  necessity,  or  was  so  thought,  and  the  same 
system  almost  from  the  first  prevailed  in  the  English 
colonies.  Bancroft  estimates  363,000  negroes  in  British 
America  in  1763,  of  whom  less  than  50,000  were  north 
of  Maryland.      But  slavery  existed  in  every  colony. 

The  colonists  of  European  race  were  mostly  British, 
the  great  majority  being  English.  There  were  not  a  few 
of  Scotch  descent,   their  ancestors   having  come   from 

Scotland  or  the 
north  of  Ireland. 
Scotch  settlements 
had  been  made  in 
New  Hampshire 
and  North  Caro- 
lina, in  particular, 
and  from  this  stock 
at  a  later  day  came 
Andrew  Jackson 
and  Daniel  Web- 
ster. More  or  less 
Irish  were  found  in 
all  the  colonies. 
French  Huguenots 
had   taken   refuge 


Henry  Laurens. 

Born  in  South  Carolina,  1724;  died,  1792.  Mer- 
chant and  patriot.  President  of  Congress,  1777-8  ; 
minister  to  Holland,  1779;  captured  by  British 
and  imprisoned  in  Tower  of  London  ;  exchanged 
for   Lord   Cornwallis  ;    with  Jay    and   Franklin, 

•  negotiated  treaty  of  peace  with  Great  Britain, 
1782. 


in  America  from 
persecution  at 
home,  and  were 
especially  numer- 
ous in  South  Car- 


olina. The  revolutionary  patriots,  Henry  Laurens  and 
General  Francis  Marion,  were  of  Huguenot  blood.  In 
New  York  the  Hollanders  were  a  large  element,  the  Dutch 
language  being  still  used  commonly  in  business  and  in 


The  Colonies  after  the  French    Wars.  57 


the  church  service.     In   Pennsylvania  about  a  third  of  McMaster, 
the  population  were  German,  and  the  German  tongue,      '  ^^' 
"  Pennsylvania  Dutch,"  as  it  was  called  by  the  English 
colonists,  was  yet  their  prevailing  speech.     And  in  Del- 
aware there  were  a  few  Swedes. 

The  religion  of  the  colonies  along  the  Atlantic  was  al-  Religion, 
most  entirely  Protestant  in  some  form.  Maryland  had 
been  settled  by  Roman  Catholics,  and  perhaps  a  fifteenth 
of  her  people  were  of  that  faith.  But  there  were  very 
few  Catholics  in  the  other  colonies.  The  New  England- 
ers  were  Puritans,  the  Baptists  being  strong  in  Rhode 
Island  and  the  Congregationalists  in  Massachusetts  and 
Connecticut.  In  New  York  the  Reformed  Church  of 
Holland  included  the  Dutch  colonists,  while  those  of 
British  extraction  were  mostly  either  Episcopalians  or 
Presbyterians.  The  Lutheran  Church,  as  well  as  that  of 
the  Friends  (Quakers),  was  powerful  in  Pennsylvania 
and  Delaware,  while  the  English  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  was  established  by  law  in  Virginia  and  had  many 
adherents  farther  south.  It  was  an  important  fact  with 
reference  to  the  last-named  church  that  the  colonies  had 
no  bishop  of  their  own  but  were  attached  to  the  diocese 
of  London.  In  this  way  many  of  the  churches  were  apt 
to  be  supplied  with  clergymen  for  whom  it  was  difficult 
to  provide  in  England.  They  were  not  always  compe- 
tent and  not  infrequently  thoroughly  disreputable. 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  to  observe  that  the  religious 
organization  of  the  colonies  was  a  quite  accurate  index  of 
the  sources  and  periods  of  immigration. 

Education  of  the  young  was  almost  from  the  first  a   Education, 
matter  of  concern  in   nearly  all  the  colonies.      Perhaps 
the  first  permanent  school  was  that  founded  by  the  Dutch   This  school  is 
at  New  Amsterdam  in  1633.     Two  years  later  the  people  ^^  ^^^^  '"^' 
of  Massachusetts  Bay  established  a  public  school,  and  in 


58 


The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Harvard  Col- 
lege, 1836. 


Public  schools. 


New  England. 


Virginia. 


Colleges. 


1636  voted  a  fund  to  found  a  college.  But  the  begin- 
nings of  the  American  system  of  public  schools  date 
from  the  Massachusetts  statutes  of  1642  and  1647,  which 
required  the  maintenance  of  a  sufficient  school  in  each 
town  and  provided  for  compulsory  attendance.  This 
system,  and  still  more  the  spirit  and  ideas  which  lay  back 
of  it,  sufficed  to  make  New  England  an  intelligent  com- 
munity— so  much  so  that  an  illiterate  person  was  a  rarity. 
In  the  middle  colonies  much  was  done  to  provide  schools, 
although  not  on  so  systematic  a  basis  as  in  the  East.  In 
the  southern  colonies  there  was  less  general  interest  in 
popular  education,  and  at  the  same  time  the  scattered 
life  of  the  planters  on  their  wide  estates  made  schools  dif- 
ficult to  maintain.  Governor  Berkeley  of  Virginia  said 
in  167 1  :  "I  thank  God  there  are  no  free  schools  nor 
printing  ;  and  I  hope  we  shall  not  have  these  hundred 
years  ;  for  learning  has  brought  disobedience  and  heresy 
and  sects  into  the  world,  and  printing  has  divulged  them, 
and  libels  against  the  best  government.  God  keep  us 
from  both  !  "  The  governor  did  not  object  to  schools 
for  the  gentry,  and  such  establishments  grew  up  in  many 
places. 

Sooner  or  later  nearly  every  colony  had  its  college. 
Harvard,  1636,  was  followed  by  William  and  Mary,  in 
Virginia,  1688  ;  Yale,  in  Connecticut,  1701  ;  Princeton, 
in  New  Jersey,  1746  ;  Kings  (now  Columbia),  in  New 
York,  1754  ;  Brown,  in  Rhode  Island,  1764;  and  Dart- 
mouth, in  New  Hampshire,  1769.  The  Philadelphia 
Academy,  which  afterwards  grew  into  the  University  of 
Pennsylvania,  was  founded  in  1749.  By  the  end  of  the 
century  there  were  twenty-four  colleges,  of  which  nine 
were  in  the  South.  The  early  purpose  of  many  of  these 
colleges  was  to  train  young  men  for  the  ministry.  Har- 
vard for  its  first  sixty  years  was  virtually  a  theological 


The  Colonies  aftei'  the  French    Wars. 


59 


seminary  ;  and  others,  like  Yale  and  Williams  and  Penn- 
sylvania, were  in  the  beginning  what  we  should  call  acad- 
emies. 

But  college-trained  men  were  numerous  in  the  colo- 
nies.    They  were  found  in  all  the  learned  professions, 


College 


Literature 
and  art. 


and  among  the  leaders  of  the  popular  party  at  the  time  graduates  in 
of  the  Revolution  the  graduates  of  Yale  and  Kings  and 
Princeton  and  the  rest  were  conspicuous  and  able.  Such 
a  man  as  Benjamin  Franklin  was  an  exception.  He  had 
no  college  education.  But  his  great  natural  powers  and 
tireless  industry  would  have  raised  him  to  eminence  in 
any  society  and  under  almost  any  conditions.  His 
"  Poor  Richard's  Almanac  "  furnished  the  philosophy  of 
life  for  the  masses.  His  scientific  discoveries  ranked  him 
with  European  savants,  and  his  administrative  and  polit- 
ical skill  made  him  easily  a  leader  in  colonial  progress. 

Life  in  the  colonies  was  not  complex.     There  w^ere 
not  wide  differences  of  wealth.    There 
were  no  great  libraries  or  galleries  of 
paintings,    no   grand    cathedrals    or 
palaces,    no    general    patronage    of 
music  or  art  or  literature.     And  so 
there  was  little  development  of  liter- 
ary  or   artistic   achievement.       The 
Virginians  read  the  English  classics — 
Shakspere   and  Addison  and  Pope. 
The  Connecticut  Puritan  read  Milton  and  the  English 
Bible.      Men  of  intellectual  tastes  were  apt  to  go  into  the 
law  or  theology.     The  New  England  theologians  were   New  England 
ardent  and  profound,   and  their  influence  in  the  com- 
munity was  commanding.     The    Massachusetts    parson 
really  governed  his  parish.       He  was  an  authority  on 
politics  and  learning  as  well  as  in  religion.      His  endless 
sermons  were  more  than  a  mere  religious  exhortation — 


Stocks. 
the  colonies  to 
punish  misdemeanors. 


Used 


clergymen. 


6o  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 

they  were  sermon  and  magazine  and  newspaper  all  in  one. 

Magazine  literature  did  not  exist  in  America,  and  the 

newspapers  were  scanty  in  number  and  scantier  in  news. 

Newspapers.  ]sJq^  counting  some  spasmodic  attempts,  the  first  Ameri- 
can newspaper  was  the  Boston  News-Letter,  founded  in 

papers"  in  fhl?'    17^4.      In  1719  its  editor  congratulated  his  readers  on 

Britannica!  '^  the  great  enlargement  and  improvement  of  his  paper, 
whereby  it  was  at  that  time  only  five  months  behind 
England  in  general  European  news,  while  a  year  before 
it  had  been  thirteen  months  behind.  There  were  thirty- 
four  small  sheets,  all  weeklies,  at  the  opening  of  the  Rev- 
olution. Four  tiny  pages  were  the  rule,  containing  a 
few  quaint  advertisements,  a  very  little  news,  and  a  selec- 
tion of  sedate  letters  on  a  variety  of  subjects.  During 
the  Revolutionary  War  the  Massachusetts  Spy,  for  lack 
of  fresher  matter,  published  in  successive  issues  the  whole 
of  Robertson's  "  History  of  America." 

In  all  the  colonies  the  lawyers  were  well  trained  and 
acute.  In  more  cases  than  one  the  young  men  of  well- 
to-do  families  were  sent  ' '  home  ' '  to  England  to  get  their 
education  at  Oxford  and  the  Temple  in  London. 

The  great  bulk  of  the  Americans  were  farmers.     Cities, 

Agriculture  and   indeed,  wcre  few  and  small.     The  exports  of  America 

commerce.  '  ^ 

were  products  of  the  ocean,  the  forest,  and  the  fields. 
Agriculture  in  New  England  was  not  fruitful  in  wealth, 
and  the  hardy  colonists  plowed  the  sea  quite  as  much 
as  the  land.  They  were  active  in  the  fisheries,  and  in 
dried  cod  they  drove  a  thriving  trade  with  Europe  and 
the  West  Indies.  Indeed  codfish  was  at  one  time  used 
as  money  in  Massachusetts,  and  the  same  useful  fish  was 
a  symbol  of  that  enterprising  colony.  New  England 
ships  were  largely  engaged  in  whaling  also,  and  the 
ships  themselves  were  made  in  great  numbers  in  Maine. 
The  New  England  farmers  were  usually  gathered  in 


The   Colonies  after  the  French    Wars. 


6i 


villages,  their  tilled  fields  stretching-  on  all  sides.  But 
in  the  South  the  plantations  were  large,  the  owner  with 
his  family  and  dependents,  white  and  black,  living  in  a 
sort  of  feudal  state.  Towns  and  vil- 
lages were  few.  Agriculture  here 
was  the  main  source  of  income,  the 
tobacco  of  Virginia,  tar  and  turpentine 
of  North  Carolina,  and  rice  of  South 
Carolina,  being  staple  articles  of  ex- 
port. 

These  products,  with  the  fish,  whale 
oil,  furs,  and  ships  of  the  North,  were 
sold  to  Europe  in  considerable  annual 

T  -_       ,.   ,  Pillory. 

quantities.  In  return  English  manu-  used  in  the  colonies  to 
factured  articles  were  sent  to  the  P-"^h  misdemeanors, 
colonies.  And  England  was  very  careful  that  no  com- 
petition in  manufactures  should  spring  up  over  seas. 

Each  European  nation  which  had  established  colonies 
used  them  for  its  own  sole  benefit.  Hence  it  was  a  set- 
tled principle  that  trade  with  them  should  be  confined  to 
its  own  ships,  that  colonial  products  should  be  exported 
to  no  place  but  the  mother-country,  and  that  there 
should  be  no  competing  colonial  products.  Therefore, 
when  England,  in  1651  and  1660,  enacted  navigation 
laws  forbidding  trade  with  England,  including  English 
colonies,  except  in  English  ships,  she  was  only  doing 
what  Spain  and  Portugal  had  been  doing  from  the  first. 
Subsequent  laws  made  the  restrictions  still  closer.  The 
English  idea  of  colonies  was  that  they  should  produce 
commodities  which  could  not  be  produced  in  the  mother- 
country  and  which  the  mother-country  needed,  that  they 
should  consume  what  she  had  to  sell,  that  they  should 
never  be  competitors  with  her,  and  should  trade  with  no 
other  nation.     Accordingly  England  was  very  glad  to 


The  colonial 
system. 


Navigation 
acts. 


Bancroft, 
I.,  414. 


62 


The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Prohibition  of 
American  man- 
ufactures, 1699. 


1732. 

Statute  of  5  Geo. 
II.,  Ch.  XXII. 


1750. 


Bancroft, 

II.,  521;  III. ,42-3. 


The  main  pro- 
visions of  the 
statute  are 
quoted  by 
Swank,  p.  482. 


Navigation 
Laws  not  always 
enforced. 


Cities. 


buy  from  America  tobacco  and  naval  stores.  But  when 
the  Americans  began  to  manufacture  woolens  they  were 
promptly  forbidden  to  export  wool  or  woolen  goods  from 
one  colony  to  another.  Then  the  colonists  began  to 
make  hats,  whereupon  the  exportation  of  hats  from  col- 
ony to  colony  was  prohibited,  and  the  number  of  hatters' 
apprentices  was  limited  by  law.  The  manufacture  of  iron 
grew  very  slowly  in  the  colonies.  But  gradually  it  ex- 
cited alarm  among  the  English  ironmasters,  and  so  a 
statute  was  passed  which  permitted  the  importation  of 
pig  and  bar-iron  into  England  duty  free,  but  forbade  the 
erection  of  "  any  mill  for  slitting  or  rolling  iron,  or  any 
plating  forge  to  work  with  a  tilt-hammer,  or  any  furnace 
for  making  steel."  Mills  already  existing  were  not  dis- 
turbed, a  clause  providing  for  their  abolition  having 
failed  to  pass  in  the  House  of  Commons  by  a  slender 
majority.  By  these  means  American  manufactures  were 
prevented  from  becoming  more  than  enough  barely  to 
supply  a  neighborhood  with  coarse  articles. 

During  the  long  period  of  the  French  wars,  the  Navi- 
gation Acts  were  not  very  strictly  enforced,  and  an  active 
trade  grew  up  between  the  colonies  and  the  West  Indies. 
The  colonists  carried  thither  dried  fish  and  lumber, 
bringing  back  large  quantities  of  sugar  and  rum,  or  of 
molasses  from  which  ' '  New  England  rum ' '  was  made. 
But  this  lucrative  traffic  was  illegal,  and  might  at  any 
time  be  broken  up. 

The  colonial  cities  were  few  and  small.  Nearly  every 
colony  had  a  seaport,  and  its  settlements  straggled  away 
from  it  for  some  distance,  and  then  were  divided  by  a 
stretch  of  wilderness  from  the  settlements  of  the  next 
colony.  Philadelphia  was  the  metropolis,  boasting  in 
1763  a  population  of  perhaps  30,000.  New  York  had 
about  20,000,  Boston  less  than  15,000,  Baltimore  5,000, 


The  Colo7iies  after  the  French    Wars, 


63 


Boston,  see 
Lodge,  p.  456, 
note  2. 


Providence  about   4,000,  Albany  3,000.      These  in  our   For  larger  esti- 
day  we   should    call    merely  small    towns.     The  rest  of  plfpuLtion^of 
the  cities,  Hartford,  Portsmouth,  Charleston,  Savannah, 
were  merely  villages.     In  fact,  only  about  three  per  cent 
of  the  Americans  of  1763  lived   in  what  could  be  called 
cities.     The  percentage  in  1890  was  twenty-seven. 

The  general  scale  of  living  was  plain  but  abundant. 
Of  course  there  was  a  wide  difference  between  different 


ifeE-. 

J 

^ 

^il 

-v,^-:* 

N 

^g 

^^l:- 
W^^ 

i  ,^^m 

i 

\             ^          ^*'' 

■:'jii"ipl 

1 

Westover,"  a  Colonial  Mansion  near  Richmond,  Virginia. 


sections.  The  wealthy  planters  in  the  South  lived  after 
the  manner  of  English  country  gentlemen.  The  men  social  life, 
cared  for  their  estates,  rode,  hunted,  raced  horses. 
Cards  and  dancing  were  the  amusements  at  social  gath- 
erings. In  New  England  puritanism  gave  a  grave  tinge 
to  society.  But  irrepressible  human  nature  bubbled 
over  nevertheless,  and  sedate  rustic  life  was  enlivened 


64 


The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation, 


Aristocracy. 


Travel, 


by  the  husking  bee,  the  sleigh  ride,  the  generous  feast- 
ing of  Thanksgiving,  and  the  athletic  sports  which  ac- 
companied the  annual  day  of  "  general  training."  The 
great  fireplace  around  which  the  family  gathered  on 
winter  evenings  consumed  wood  by  the  cord,  and  its 
cheerful  blaze  certainly  was  a  delightful  center  of  so- 
ciability— although  we  should  not  appreciate  the  pleasure 
of  having  the  face  roasting  and  the  back  shivering  at  the 
same  time.  We  must  remember  that  in  that  day  there 
were  no  stoves,  no  friction  matches,  no  gas  or  electric 
lights,  no  sewing  machines.  The  houses  through  the 
country  were  of  unpainted  boards,  although  in  the 
larger  cities  brick  was  much  used  in  building.  And 
there  were  some  mansions  in  Maryland  and  Virginia 
built  of  brick  which  had  been  imported  from  England — 
just  as  in  New  York  there  were  fireplaces  lined  with  tiles 
which  had  been  brought  from  Holland. 

In  nearly  all  the  colonies  there  were  rather  sharp  dis- 
tinctions of  social  rank.  As  late  as  1772  the  students 
in  the  Harvard  catalogue  were  arranged  in  the  order  of 
social  standing.  The  New  England  aristocrats  filled  the 
offices  and  the  professions.  The  New  York  and  \^ir- 
ginia  gentry  were  great  landholders.  Democracy,  either 
social  or  political,  was  not  a  colonial  idea. 

The  means  of  travel  and  communication  would  seem 
to  us  very  inadequate.  Roads  were  not  good,  bridges 
were  few,  and  journeys  of  any  length  had  to  be  made 
on  horseback.  Stage  coaches  ran  on  some  routes.  The 
time  from  Boston  to  New  York  was  four  days,  and  from 
New  York  to  Philadelphia  was  three  days.  This  was  in 
1756.  In  1766  a  greatly  improved  conveyance  was  put 
on  the  latter  route,  which  made  the  trip  in  two  days. 
And  so  rapid  did  this  appear  that  the  coach  was  called 
the  '  *  flying  machine. ' '     Whenever  possible  travel  went 


A  slow  life. 


The  Colonies  after  the  Fre7ich    Wars.  65 

by  water.  Sloops  sailed  along  the  coast  and  up  the 
rivers,  carrying  passengers  and  freight.  This  was  a 
much  more  comfortable  means  of  transit,  but  was  de- 
cidedly uncertain  as  to  time.  A  given  voyage  might 
take  two  days  or  two  weeks,  according  to  the  wind. 

The  colonial  life  was  rather  narrow,  rather  slow.  In- 
terests were  not  many  and  not  very  complicated.  It 
took  weeks  for  rfews  to  cross  the  Atlantic,  and  three 
weeks  for  ideas  to  spread  through  all  the  colonies.  The 
Yankees  were  famed  for  their  inquisitiveness.  We  can 
hardly  wonder.  It  was  their  only  way  of  getting  some- 
thing to  think  about.  The  southerners  were  equally 
famed  for  their  eager  hospitality.  We  can  hardly 
wonder  at  that  either.  A  stranger  with  something  to 
tell  must  have  been  a  godsend. 

The  colonies  had  about  the  same  form  of  go\'ernment,    Government, 
although  there  were  three  types. 

Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island  had  charters  from  the 
crown.  Under  these  charters  they  elected  their  own 
governor  and  legislature,  and  thus  made  their  own  laws. 
These  laws  were  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  crown, 
and  could  not  be  contrary  to  the  laws  of  England.  The 
old  charter  of  Massachusetts  had  been  so  modified  as  to 
give  the  crown  the  appointment  of  the  governor  and 
the  negative  on  laws. 

Pennsylvania  and  Maryland  belonged  to  private  per-  proprietary 
sons  in  England,  the  former  to  the  descendants  of  Will- 
iam Penn,  the  latter  to  the  sixth  Lord  Baltimore.  The 
people  of  Maryland  elected  a  legislature,  but  the  pro- 
prietor appointed  the  governor,  the  judges,  and  all  ad- 
ministrative officers.  He  had  a  veto  on  legislation,  ^^^•-^9. 
and  from  various  taxes,  duties,  and  rents  derived  a 
considerable  income.  The  colony  w^as  in  many  ways 
a  sort  of  feudal  appanage.      The  proprietor  of  Pennsyl- 


Charters. 


colonies. 


Bancroft, 


Royal 
provinces. 


66 


The  Growth  of  the  Americari  Nation. 


vania,  however,  had  granted  a  very  Hberal  constitution. 

Delaware,  with  a  legislature  of  its  own,  was  attached 
to  the  administrative  government  of  Pennsylvania. 
Maine  was  a  district  of  Massachusetts,  and  Vermont 
was  claimed  by  New  York  and  New  Hampshire. 

In  the  other  colonies,  the  governor,  judges,  and  ad- 


''%f 


Residence   of  the  Washington  Family,  and  Birthplace  of  George 
Washington,  on  Bridges  Creek,  Westmoreland  County,  Virginia. 


ministrative  officials  were  appointed  by  the  crown.  The 
people  chose  a  legislature,  but  the  royal  governor  had 
an  absolute  veto  on  its  acts. 
Town-meetings.  I^i  Ncw  England  the  political  unit  was  the  town-meet- 
ing, in  which  the  people  were  accustomed  to  assemble 
for  the  management  of  their  local  affairs  and  the  choice 
of  their  legislators.  In  this  way  the  New  Englanders 
became  very  independent  in  their  way  of  thinking,  and 
quite  disinclined  to  being  governed  without  being 
consulted. 

The  valley  of  the  St.   Lawrence  presented  a  very  dif- 
ferent picture.     The  population  of  Canada  was  less  than 


The  Colonies  after  the  French    Wars. 


67 


a  hundred  thousand  whites,  all  French  and  all  Roman   Canada. 
Catholics,    the   English   garrison,    of  course,    excepted. 
The  province  was  administered  by  a  military  governor. 


New  Orleans  and  the  vast  area  between  the  Mississippi   Louisiana, 
and  the  Rocky  Mountains  were  in  like  manner  governed 
by  a  deputy  of  the  Spanish  king.     The  white  flag  of  the 
Bourbons  of  France  had  vanished  from  America. 


CHAPTER  V. 


THE    SEPARATION    FROM    ENGLAND. 


The  colonists 
Englishmen. 


Franklin's 
Works,  IV. 


i6i. 


The  triumph  of  England  in  the  long  wars  with  France 
for  the  possession  of  America  was  nowhere  more  joyously 
greeted  than  in  the  American  colonies.  The  colonists 
were  thorough  Englishmen,  proud  of  the  name,  enthusi- 
astically loyal.  They  showed  their  provincialism  in  some 
ways,  to  be  sure.  They  had  great  reverence  for  all 
English  ideas,  merely  because  they  were  English — like 
some  of  their  descendants  to-day.  They  had  great  re- 
spect for  British  regular  soldiers,  though  they  might  be 
as  dull  as  Braddock  showed  himself  in  1755.  The  Eng- 
lish fashions  of  dress  were  obediently  copied  across  the 
ocean.  A  stray  Englishman  traveling  in  America  was 
treated  with  vast  deference,  because  he  was  from 
' '  home, ' '  even  if  in  fact  he  was  a  very  commonplace  and 
stupid  individual.  King  George  had  no  more  devoted 
subjects  than  the  Americans.  Benjamin  Franklin  was 
in  England  in  1766,  and  was  examined  before  a  commit- 
tee of  Parliament  which  was  considering  the  repeal  of 
the  Stamp  Act.  Being  asked  what  was  the  temper  of 
the  Americans  toward  Great  Britain  before  the  year 
1763,  this  was  his  reply  :  "  The  best  in  the  world.  They 
submitted  willingly  to  the  government  of  the  crown,  and 
paid  in  their  courts  obedience  to  the  acts  of  Parliament. 
Numerous  as  the  people  are  in  the  several  old  provinces, 
they  cost  you  nothing  in  forts,  citadels,  garrisons,  or 
armies  to  keep  them  in  subjection.    They  were  governed 

68 


The  Separation  front  England. 


69 


by  this  country  at  the  expense  only  of  a  Httle  pen,  ink, 
and  paper;  they  were  led  by  a  thread.  They  had  not  only 
a  respect  but  an  affection  for  Great  Britain,  for  its  laws, 
its  customs  and  manners,  and  even  a  fondness  for  its 
fashions,  that  greatly  increased  the  commerce.  Natives 
of  Britain  were  always  treated  with  particular  regard  ;  to 
be  an  Old  England  man  was,  of  itself,  a  character  of 
some  respect,  and  gave  a  kind  of  rank  among  us." 

But  all  this  devotion  was  changed  to  bitter  enmity — 
this  magnificent  empire  was  thrown  away  by  Great  Brit- 
ain— because  Charles  Townshend  had  an  opinion  about 
America,     and    be- 
cause George   III., 
never     capable     of 
forming  an  opinion 
of  his  own,  was  also 
never     capable    of 
giving  up  one  which 
somebody   else  had 
formed  for  him. 

Colonial  affairs 
were  managed  by  a 
committee  of  the 
British  privy  council 
under  the  name  of  the  "Lords  of  the  Committee  of 
Trades  and  Plantations."  In  1763  Charles  Townshend 
was  first  lord  of  trade.  He  had  given  much  time  to  a 
study  of  colonial  matters,  and  it  was  his  opinion  that 
the  colonies  should  have  less  to  do  with  their  own  gov- 
ernment, that  a  strong  force  of  British  regulars  should 
be  stationed  in  America,  and  that  the  cost  of  this  estab- 
lishment should  be  defrayed  from  a  tax  levied  by  Parlia- 
ment on  the  colonies. 

Grenville  was  prime  minister,  and  he  was  hardly  pre- 


Old  Dutch  House  at  Kingston,  N.  Y. 
This  house  is  said  to  have  been  built  in  1643  by 
Abram  Van  Steenberg,  and  is  supposed  to  be 
the  oldest  house  in  New  York  State.     It  is 
still  occupied  by  members  of  the  family. 


Respect  for 
"  Old  Eng- 
land men." 


Why  the 
colonies  were 
thrown  away. 


The  Lords  of 
Trade. 


Townshend's 
notion. 


70 


The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Grenville's  pre- 
text for  taxing 
the  colonies. 


The  national 
debt. 


Macaulay, 

IV.,  410. 


Statesman's 
Year-Book. 


The  colonists 
object. 


pared  to  accept  so  extreme  a  program.  However,  he 
argued  that  the  colonies  ought  to  be  taxed,  on  the 
ground  that  their  defense  in  the  late  war  had  cost  large 
sums  to  the  British  treasury,  and  in  the  spring  of  1764 
he  carried  through  the  House  of  Commons  a  series  of 
resolutions  declaring  the  intention  of  the  government  to 
levy  such  tax,  beginning  the  following  year,  in  the  shape 
of  stamps  on  certain  legal  papers. 

It  was  quite  true  that  the  war  had  been  expensive. 
Wars  always  are  costly  luxuries.  And  one  result  at  that 
time  had  been  an  enormous  increase  in  the  British  na- 
tional debt.  The  funded  debt  had  its  origin  in  the  time 
of  the  good  Protestant  King  William  HI.  It  now 
amounts  to  about  ^671,000,000,  and  this  vast  sum  rep- 
resents the  cost  of  the  British  wars  of  the  last  two  cen- 
turies over  and  above  the  taxes  available  at  the  time.  At 
the  end  of  the  Napoleonic  wars,  in  1815,  the  debt 
reached  its  maximum,  some  ;^86 1,000, 000.  At  the  be- 
ginning of  the  war  of  1756  the  debt  was  about  ^75,000,- 
000,  and  in  1763  it  had  been  swollen  to  ;^  133,000,000. 
This  sum  seemed  then  so  enormous  as  to  alarm  prudent 
people,  and  it  was  not  unnatural  that  the  financiers  of  the 
government  began  to  cast  their  eyes  on  the  colonies  for 
some  help  in  bearing  the  burden. 

But  the  proposal  of  a  stamp  tax  was  greeted  in  Amer- 
ica with  decided  disapproval.  It  was  not  merely  the 
natural  and  universal  repugnance  to  pay  taxes,  for 
the  colonists  gave  quite  solid  reasons  for  their  dissent. 

In  the  first  place,  they  asserted  that  they  had  already 
paid  even  more  than  their  share  of  the  war  expenses,  as 
had  appeared  by  acts  of  Parliament  reimbursing  some  of 
these  expenditures,  and  war  debts  had  been  incurred  by 
colonies  as  well  as  by  the  mother-country. 

However,  this  was  not  the  main  contention.      The  col- 


The  Separation  frmn  England.  71 


\ 


onists  were  willing,  if  the  king  should  ask  them  for  aid, 
to  appropriate  liberally  of  their  resources  for  that  pur- 
pose.     But  they  declared  that  Parliament  had  no  legal 
right  to  tax  them  at  all.     Taxation  without  representa- 
tion was  against  the  fundamental  rights  of  Englishmen,    ^^f^^out" 
and  as  they  had  no  representatives  in  Parliament,  it  fol-   representation. 
lowed  that  the  only  legal  way  to  levy  taxes  was  by  act  of 
the  various  colonial  legislatures. 

Franklin  carried  the  argument  further.  He  showed 
that  the  colonies  had  all  been  established  in  the  royal  pra„kiin's 
domain  under  direct  charter  of  the  crown,  and  in  no  case  Works,  iv.  281. 
by  act  of  Parliament.  Hence,  he  declared,  the  colonies 
were  joined  to  England  only  by  the  crown,  as  were  Jer- 
sey, Guernsey,  Ireland,  and  Scotland  before  the  union, 
and  therefore  the  only  legal  taxation  was  by  the  colonial 
legislatures  on  request  of  the  crown. 

The  power  of  Parliament  to  regulate  the  external  re- 
lations of  the  colonies,  including  the  control  of  com- 
merce, was  not  denied. 

Parliament,  on  the  other  hand,  claimed  a  direct  su- 
premacy over  all  the  empire,  and  denied  the  king's  pre- 
rogative over  the  royal  domain.  In  fact,  the  Revolution 
of  1688  had  given  Parliament  just  that  position  of  su- 
premacy at  home.  It  was  now  practically  for  the  first 
time  that  its  status  in  the  dependencies  was  fairly  consid- 
ered. 

The  principle  for  which  the  colonists  contended  was 
the  same  for  which  Englishmen  had  always  fought,  from 
Magna  Charta  to  the  Bill  of  Rights — the  principle  that 
there  should  be  no  taxation  without  the  assent  of  those 
who  were  to  pay.  The  House  of  Commons,  indeed, 
owed  its  existence  and  its  power  to  the  development  of 
that  very  principle.  And  so  it  was  clear  either  that  the 
colonies  should  be  taxed  as  they  insisted,  by  their  own 


Claims  of  Par- 
liament. 


The  principle. 


72 


The  Growth  of  the  A?nerican  Nation. 


Representation 
in  Parliament. 


Franklin's 
Works,  VII 
329,  note. 


Fiske,  I.,  34. 


legislatures,  or  that  there  should  be  colonial  representa- 
tives in  Parliament. 

The  latter  alternative  was  seriously  considered  by 
some  thoughtful  minds  in  both  countries.  Adam  Smith 
favored  it,  and  Franklin  worked  out  a  scheme  for  the 
distribution  of  representatives  both  to  America  and  to 
Ireland.  But  any  such  scheme  was  impracticable.  If 
an  agreement  for  an  apportionment  could  have  been 
reached,  the  great  distance  across  the  Atlantic  would 
have  proved  an  insuperable  obstacle.  Even  in  these 
days  of  steam  and  electricity  the  federation  of  the  Brit- 
ish Empire  has  been  prevented  by  the  same  cause. 
Much  more  would  it  have  been  impossible  at  a  period 
when  the  time  for  crossing  the  ocean  was  six  weeks  in- 
stead of  six  days. 

But  the  average  English  politician  gave  himself  little 
trouble  with  such  considerations.  If  he  reasoned  on  it 
at  all  he  asserted  that  in  fact  the  Americans  were  repre- 
sented in  Parliament — that  they  or  their  ancestors  had  in 
each  case  left  some  British  county  or  borough  in  which 
they  still  belonged — that  if  they  wished  to  vote  they  had 
only  to  come  home  to  England  for  that  purpose. 
Anew  problem.  We  ought  to  remember  in  discussing  this  quarrel  that 
in  truth  the  problem  was  a  difficult  one.  The  relation 
of  a  powerful  and  free  colony  to  the  mother-country  was 
really  a  new  question  in  political  science.  Nothing  quite 
like  it  had  ever  been  heard  of  before.  It  is  only  in  the 
present  century  that  it  has  been  settled  by  England — 
and  settled,  it  may  be  added,  on  the  principles  for  which 
the  Americans  contended  in  1765. 

It  happened  that  the  personality  of  the  English  king 
was  to  play  a  prominent  part  In  the  grave  differences 
which  were  now  growing  between  the  Old  World  and 
the  New.     George  III.  had  ascended  the  throne  in  1760, 


George  III. 


The  Separation  from  England. 


73 


succeeding  his  grandfather,  George  II.  The  new  king 
was  a  young  man  who  has  been  thought  by  some  to  ^'s  character, 
have  been  the  most  ignorant  monarch  with  whom  Eng- 
land has  ever  been  blessed.  This  opinion,  however,  is 
probably  hardly  just  to  George.  There  is  no  doubt  that 
he  was  very  dull,  and  he  certainly  was  extraordinarily 
obstinate.  In  his  family  relations  he  was  quite  blame- 
less— rather  a  rare  royal  virtue  for  that  day.  He  was  a 
pious  gentleman, 
with  a  brain  which 
probably  was  never 
quite  right.  He 
finally  became  in- 
sane, and  spent  his 
last  ten  years  in 
confinement  as  a 
lunatic.  The  plain 
truth  is  that  he  was 
always  out  of  place 
on  the  throne.  Had 
fortune  been  so  kind 
as  to  make   him   a 

simple  country  gentleman,  he  would  doubtless  have  lived 
an  innocent  and  contented  life,  with  sound  opinions  on 
turnips  and  sheep. 

George's  immediate  predecessors,  his  grandfather  and 
his  great-grandfather,  had  both  been  Germans,  with  lit- 
tle or  no  knowledge  of  the  English  language,  and  en- 
tirely indifferent  to  English  political  ideas.  It  was  owing 
largely  to  this  fact  that  in  their  reigns  had  grown  up  the 
system  of  cabinet  government,  whereby  the  king  became 
little  more  than  a  dignified  royal  effigy — a  mere  suit  of 
clothes,  as  Thackeray  called  George  IV. — and  the  real 
administration  was  in  the  hands   of  the  prime   minister 


The  Old  Senate  House,  Kingston,  N.  Y. 

This  house  was  built  in  1676  by  Col.  Wessel  Ten 
Broeck,  and  is  a  good  specimen  of  early  Dutch 
architecture.  The  first  session  of  the  New  York 
State  Senate  met  here  in  the  summer  of  1777. 
It  is  now  owned  by  the  state  of  New  York. 


He  should 
have  been  a 
farmer. 


74  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 

with  a  majority  of  the  House  of  Commons  at  his  back. 
Thus  the  king  was  about  in  the  position  of  the  good 
clergyman  whom  his  parishioners  Hked  so  well  ' '  because 
he  never  meddled  with  politics  or  religion." 

Now  George  III.  did  not  at  all  like  this  system.  His 
mother  had  from  the  first  steadily  instilled  in  him  the 
thought  that  he  should  be  a  real  king.  And  so  as  soon 
as  he  reached  the  throne  he  began  to  scheme  to  govern 
as  well  as  to  reign. 
Whig  dis-  He  was  aided  in  this  ambition  by  two  circumstances. 

One  was  the  fact  that  the  Whig  party,  which  had  now 
for  more  than  half  a  century  ruled  England,  had  become 
broken  with  faction.  Thus  the  king  by  taking  advantage 
of  their  discord  was  enabled  to  build  up  a  Tory  party 
devoted  to  the  extension  of  royal  influence.  The  other 
circumstance  was  that  Parliament  was  no  longer  a  really 
representative  body.  Many  boroughs  each  of  which  re- 
turned two  members  had  become  so  devoid  of  popula- 
Bribery  and  tiou  as  to  be  Controlled  easily  by  some  influential  poli- 
corrup  ion.  ticiau.  And  hence  their  members  could  be  secured  with- 
out difficulty — for  a  consideration.  Again,  the  members 
were  no  longer  held  sharply  accountable  to  their  con- 
stituents, and  the  grossest  bribery  had  come  to  be  a 
matter  of  course.  Thus  the  king  by  the  use  of  patron- 
age and  direct  money  bribes  was  able  to  secure  a  sub- 
servient majority  to  carry  out  his  schemes. 

The  plan  of  taxing  America  fell  in  perfectly  with  the 
The  king  ap-  king's  political  aims.  If  he  could  secure  a  revenue  by 
America.  ^^'"^  which  he  should  be  able  to  maintain  a  strong  standing 
army  in  the  colonies,  he  would  have  at  hand  a  means  by 
which  he  might  one  day  put  down  opposition  at  home. 
Had  the  Americans  tamely  submitted,  it  is  quite  likely 
that  George  would  have  pushed  his  prerogative  at  home 
to  such  an  extent  that  nothing  but  revolution  would 


The  Separation  from  England.  75 


have  displaced  him.  So  the  Americans  were  in  truth 
fighting  the  battles  of  English  liberalism,  Washington 
was  in  the  same  line  with  Hampden,  with  the  Prince  of 
Orange,  and  with  Earl  Grey  and  Gladstone  in  our  own 
century. 

The  Stamp  Act  was  passed  in  1765,  without  regard  to  The  stamp  Act 
the  protests  of  the  Americans  or  to  the  earnest  opposition  '^^5- 
of  such  English  statesmen  as  the  great  commoner,  William 
Pitt.  But  so  violent  was  the  storm  which  this  measure 
raised  in  the  colonies  that  it  was  found  to  be  utterly  im- 
possible to  enforce  the  law,  and  the  government  at  last 
reluctantly  was  driven  to  repeal  it.  The  repeal,  how-  Repeal,  1766 
ever,  was  made  less  gracious  by  an  act  accompanying  it 
which  declared  it  to  be  the  right  of  Parliament  to  tax 
the  colonies  at  pleasure.  This  was  in  1766.  In  the  fol- 
lowing year  Charles  Townshend  was  chancellor  of  the  Townshend's 
exchequer,  and  on  his  own  responsibility  he  brought  in  ^^^^'  ^''  '^' 
a  series  of  acts  for  taxing  imports  into  the  colonies. 
The  duties  were  to  be  levied  on  several  specified  articles, 
including  tea.  The  money  thus  raised  was  to  be  de- 
voted to  very  significant  purposes.  It  was  to  pay  the 
salaries  of  the  royal  governors,  of  the  judges,  who  were 
to  be  appointed  by  the  crown  and  to  serve  during  the 
king's  pleasure,  and  of  such  other  civil  officers  and  pen- 
sionaries as  the  crown  might  see  fit.  It  was  entirely  ob- 
vious that  if  this  plan  should  be  carried  out  it  would  put 
the  administrative  and  judicial  machinery  of  colonial 
government  at  the  king's  mercy.  The  power  of  refus- 
ing to  grant  supplies  to  the  governor  and  the  independ- 
ence of  the  judiciary  had  thus  far  sufficed  to  guard  the 
freedom  of  the  colonists  against  the  crown. 

It  was  further  provided  that  there  should  be  estab-   writs  of 
lished   a    revenue  board  to  supervise  the  collection  of  ^^^'^  ^"^^' 
the  colonial  duties,  and  that  general  writs  of  assistance 


76 


The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


licit  trade. 


The  writs 
upheld  by  the 
courts. 


Renewed 
agitation. 


Opposition  to 
all  taxes  laid  by 
Parliament. 


should  be  lawful.  The  enforcement  of  the  Navigation 
Acts  had  not  been  thorough  as  far  as  the  colonies  were 
concerned  until  after  the  accession  of  George  III.  The 
trade  which  had  grown  up  in  evasion  of  these  acts  was 
of  large  proportions,  both  with  the  West  Indies  and 
with  European  nations.  In  the  course  of  searching  for 
contraband  goods  the  British  revenue  officers  had  found 
it  convenient  to  obtain  from  some  judge  a  sort  of  blanket 
search  warrant,  called  a  "writ  of  assistance,"  mention- 
ing neither  name  nor  place.  As  the  colonists  believed 
in  the  old  doctrine  that  "the  Englishman's  house  was 
his  castle,"  these  warrants  were  strenuously  resisted. 
But  in  1 76 1  the  Massachusetts  court  upheld  them  as 
legal  under  an  old  statute  of  the  time  of  Charles  II., 
which  was  enacted  for  England.  Thus  they  were  now 
specifically  legalized  for  America. 

These  acts  were  received  in  America  with  a  new  storm 
of  opposition.  Earnest  remonstrances  were  sent  to  the 
king,  and  the  leading  merchants  united  in  a  resolution 
to  import  no  more  English  goods  until  the  obnoxious 
laws  should  be  repealed.  It  was  true  that  at  the  time  of 
the  Stamp  Act  the  Americans  had  admitted  the  right  of 
Parliament  to  legislate  with  reference  to  commerce,  and 
hence,  of  course,  to  lay  duties  on  imports.  But  it  was 
now  clearly  seen  that  if  any  sort  of  tax  could  be  laid  on 
the  colonies  without  their  assent  they  would  be  at  the 
mercy  of  the  arbitrary  government  of  the  crown.  And 
this  fact  made  it  perfectly  plain  that  the  principle  of  no 
taxation  without  representation  could  have  no  exceptions. 
The  Townshend  Acts  were  an  object  lesson  which  only 
the  blind  could  fail  to  understand.  And  the  Americans 
were  not  blind. 

Meanwhile  Townshend  had  died,  and  his  place  as 
chancellor  of  the  exchequer  was  taken  by  Lord  North. 


The  Separation  from  England.  ■  77 

Three  years  later  that  amiable  nobleman  became  prime 
minister,  a  place  which  he  held  for  fourteen  years.  As 
he  was  merely  the  obedient  servant  of  the  king,  George 
III.  during  that  period  really  governed  England  just  as 
he  desired.  A  hundred  million  pounds  added  to  the 
national  debt  and  the  loss  of  a  continent  were  the  net 
results. 

Non-importation  bore  heavily  on  British  commerce. 
The  anticipated  returns  from  the  duties  had  not  been 
realized.  Violent  opposition  to  the  government  in  all 
the  colonies  and  in  Parliament  kept  public  affairs  in  a 
turmoil.  And  in  the  spring  the  new  minister  decided  to 
repeal  the  revenue  acts.  However,  he  was  not  willing 
to  give  up  the  principle  at  issue.  Accordingly  the  pre- 
amble, declaratory  of  the  right  of  Parliament  to  tax  the 
colonies,  and  the  duty  on  a  single  article,  tea,  were 
retained. 

Non-importation  had  of  course  hurt  America  also, 
and  when  the  duties  were  thus  almost  wholly  removed 
the  New  York  merchants  gave  way  and  resumed  trade 
with  England.  But  the  taxed  tea  was  not  an  article  of 
traffic.  That  comforting  commodity  was  largely  used, 
but  nearly  all  of  it  was  smuggled  from  Holland.  The 
Americans  were  yet  stubborn. 

Finally,  the  king  determined  on  a  test  case.  The 
East  India  Company  was  empowered  to  export  tea  to  ?ea  p^ny^''" 
America,  with  a  drawback  amounting  to  the  entire  duty  ^'^'^^• 
of  three  pence  on  the  pound.  Thus  the  British  taxed 
tea  would  actually  cost  the  Americans  less  than  Dutch 
smuggled  tea.  "And,"  said  Lord  North,  "men  will 
always  go  to  the  cheapest  market. ' '  Accordingly  the 
company  sent  consignments  simultaneously  to  Charles- 
ton, Philadelphia,  New  York,  and  Boston.  But  the  col- 
onists were  fully  aroused  to  the  situation.      If  the  tea 


78 


The   Growth  of  the  Aniei'ican  Natiofi. 


December  i6. 


The  five  abom- 
inable acts,  1774. 


could  be  landed  and  sold  their  case  was  lost.  So  they 
determined  that  there  should  be  none  landed.  In 
Charleston,  Philadelphia,  and  New  York  the  consignees 
of  the  tea  yielded  to  public  indignation  and  resigned 
their  positions.  The  Charleston  cargo  was  unloaded  by 
the  collector  of  the  port,  but  as  no  one  would  pay  the 
duty,  and  no  one  would  sell  the  tea,  it  was  stored  in  cel- 
lars, where  presently  the  dampness  ruined  it.  The  Phil- 
adelphia and  New  York  ships  were  sent  back  to  England 
without  landing  their  freight  at  all.  In  Boston  the  con- 
signees would  not  resign.  But  the  excited  people  re- 
fused to  allow  the  tea  to  be  brought  on  shore,  and  when 
there  approached  the  last  of  the  twenty  days  allowed 
by  law  at  the  end  of  which  time  the  collector  might  land 
the  goods,  in  a  cold  December  night  a  mob  disguised  as 
Mohawk  Indians  boarded  the  ships  and  threw  all  the  tea 
overboard. 

Thus  the  attempt  to  force  the  tea  tax  on  America  ig- 
nominiously  failed.  The  British  government  received 
the  news  with  the  utmost  indignation,  and  measures 
were  at  once  taken  to  bring  the  refractory  inhabitants  of 
Massachusetts  to  their  senses.  Five  bills  were  brought 
into  Parliament  by  Lord  North,  and  they  passed  by 
large  majorities.  The  first  closed  the  port  of  Boston  ; 
the  second  annulled  the  charter  of  Massachusetts,  put- 
ting that  colony  under  the  absolute  authority  of  the 
crown  ;  the  third  provided  that  any  British  official  in- 
dicted for  murder  in  Massachusetts  should  be  tried  in 
England  ;  the  fourth  made  it  lawful  to  quarter  troops  on 
citizens ;  the  fifth,  known  as  the  Quebec  Act,  permitted 
the  free  exercise  of  the  Roman  Catholic  worship  in  Can- 
ada, and  at  the  same  time  extended  the  boundaries  of 
that  province  to  the  Ohio  River.  This  last  provision,  it 
was  thought,  would  effectually  prevent  the  westward  ex- 


The  Separation  from  Englaiid.  79 


tension  of  the  refractory  English  colonies.  And  to 
carry  out  this  stern  legislation  General  Gage  was  sent  to 
Boston  with  large  reenforcements  for  the  garrison. 

But  the  people  of  Massachusetts  were  in  no  mood  to 

.  .  The  people  of 

submit  to  pure  tyranny.  The  act  annullmg  their  charter  Massachusetts 
was  set  at  defiance.  No  officers  who  accepted  positions 
under  the  new  government  were  allowed  to  act,  and 
many  of  them  were  compelled  to  resign.  Correspond- 
ence went  on  actively  with  the  other  colonies,  and  militia 
was  organized  to  be  ready  in  case  Gage  should  attempt 
force. 

The  other  colonies  sympathized  with  Massachusetts, 
and  felt  that  she  was  fighting  their  battles  as  well.  And 
they  promptly  acceded  to  the  call  for  a  continental 
congress. 

Such  a  convention  had  been  held  in  1765,  at  which   The  stamp  Act 
nine  colonies  had  been  represented.     The  delegates  of  Congress, 
twelve  colonies  now  met  at  Philadelphia  to  consider  what 
united  action  could  be  taken.     They  adopted  a  declara-   unentai  con-  " 
tion  of  rights,  recommended  non-intercourse  with   the   Kfiyy^.^^^'"' 
mother-country,  and  drew  up  addresses  to  the  king  and 
to  the  people  of  Great  Britain  and  of  America.     A  sec- 
ond congress  was  then  called  for  the  following  May,  and 
the  delegates  adjourned. 

But  before  the  new  convention  thus  called  could  meet,    ^^^^^  ^^^^^  ^^ 
words  had  given  place  to  blows.      Gage  determined  to   ^i^^^^- 
arrest  Hancock  and  Samuel  Adams,  the  main  leaders  of 
the  Massachusetts  people,  and  to  seize  the  military  stores 
which  the  patriots    had   begun   to  gather  in   Concord. 
With  that  purpose  he  sent  out  a  detachment  of  infantry 
on  the  night  of  the  i8th  of  April,  1775.     At  sunrise  the 
following  morning  their  advance  encountered  on  Lexing- 
ton Green  a  company  of  militia,  paraded  under  arms,    ^^riffgl'ms. 
Major  Pitcairn,   the  British  commander,  promptly  fired 


8o 


The  Growth  of  the  Americaji  Nation. 


War  and 
independence. 


The  flight  from 
Lexington. 


Siege  of 
Boston. 


Little  thought 
of  independ- 
ence. 


The  first 
attack  on  the 
center. 
The  British 
take  New 
York,  1776. 


his  pistols  at  these  "rebels,"  and  then  scattered  them  by 
a  volley  from  his  men. 

This  was  war.  The  last  legal  means  had  been  used. 
Only  physical  force  remained.  The  colonists  either  had 
the  rights  of  free-born  Englishmen,  or  they  were  mere 
slaves  to  the  British  government  ;  and  the  decision  now 
could  come  only  by  battle.  Reconciliation  was  no  longer 
possible.  The  Declaration  of  Independence  and  the 
treaty  in  which  King  George  at  last  gave  up  his  colonies 
forever  were  only  the  logical  sequence  of  the  Stamp  Act. 
And  the  real  victory  was  that  of  the  English  people  over 
a  Hanoverian  James  II. 

The  expedition  to  Concord  succeeded  in  destroying 
some  military  stores.  But  the  colonists  were  aroused  on 
all  sides,  and  assembled  in  so  great  numbers  and 
assailed  the  invaders  with  so  spontaneous  a  fierceness 
that  the  latter  were  fairly  driven  back  to  Boston.  Then 
at  once  Gage's  army  was  besieged  in  that  city  by  an 
impromptu  army  of  insurgents.  In  July,  George 
Washington,  whom  Congress  had  put  at  the  head  of 
the  continental  armies,  took  command  of  the  besieging 
forces.  But  it  was  not  until  the  following  March  that 
the  British  were  compelled  to  evacuate  the  city. 

At  the  outset,  neither  side  expected  a  serious  war. 
The  colonists  took  up  arms  merely  to  secure  a  redress 
of  grievances,  with  no  thought  of  independence.  But 
the  British  ministry  could  not  yield  to  "rebels,"  and  so 
made  strenuous  exertions  to  crush  the  revolt.  When 
this  became  clear  in  America,  Congress  adopted  resolu- 
tions declaring  American  independence. 

In  the  summer  after  the  evacuation  of  Boston,  a 
powerful  British  army  and  fleet  attacked  New  York. 
Washington  had  an  inferior  force,  and  was  easily  dis- 
lodged  from    the    city.     He    was    obliged    to   retreat 


The  Separation  from  England.  8 1 

through  New  Jersey,  and  that  state  was  overrun  by  the 

British  armies.     The  plan  was  to  seize  the  Middle  States   New  jersey 

•^   _  ^  overrun. 

and  thus  to   cut  the    insurrectionary  territory  in  two. 
And  it  very  nearly  succeeded.     But  in  December  the  fon^  ddlSThe 
genius  of  Washington  sufficed  to  outgeneral  the  enemy   New  York'!'  ^^ 
and  in  turn  to  drive  them  back  to  New  York. 

In  the  following  summer  the  plan  of  the  British  was 


Reduced  Facsimile  of  the  Last  Line  of  the  Declaration  of 

Indkpendence,  in  Jefferson's  Handwriting,  with 

THE  First  Three  Signatures. 

asfain    taken    up.      This    time    a    strong    army    under  The  second 

^  J  r.        attack  on  the 

General  Burgoyne  came  Irom  Canada  and  set  out  tor  center. 
Albany.  It  was  intended  that  General  Howe  should  invasion,  1777. 
ascend  the  Hudson  from  New  York,  and  that  the  two 
armies  should  unite  at  Albany.  But  Howe  foolishly 
got  it  into  his  head  that  it  would  be  a  good  thing  first  to 
capture  the  rebel  capital,  Philadelphia.  This  he  finally 
succeeded  in  doing,  but  it  took  so  much  time  that  he 
could  do  nothing  substantial  to  help  Burgoyne.  That 
unfortunate  general  was  surrounded  by  greatly  superior 
forces  of  the  Americans,  and  after  a  gallant  struggle  was 
compelled  to  surrender  his  entire  army,  at  Saratoga. 


82 


The   Groiuth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Alliance  with 
France,  1778. 


The  British 
offer  terms, 

1778. 


Howe 

abandons 

Philadelphia. 


Indian  atroci- 
ties. 


Conquest  of  the 
Northwest, 


This  great  victory  ended  the  notable  British  plan  of 
cutting  the  center.  It  had  another  important  effect. 
France  yet  smarted  under  her  great  defeat  by  the  British 
in  1758  and  1759,  and  was  eager  for  revenge.  The 
surrender  of  Burgoyne  showed  that  the  insurgents  were 
quite  likely  to  maintain  their  independence,  and  so  the 
French  government  was  induced  to  form  a  treaty  of 
alliance  with  the  United  States.  This  gave  the  struggling 
patriots  the  help  of  a  great  military  nation,  and  in  the 
end  led  to  a  successful  issue  of  the  war. 

When  the  British  government  began  to  fear  that 
France  would  join  with  the  rebellious  colonies,  the 
stubborn  pride  w^hich  had  thus  far  inspired  the  American 
policy  was  replaced  by  saner  counsels.  The  colonies 
were  offered  everything  which  they  had  originally  de- 
manded. But  it  was  too  late.  Independence  was  now 
inevitable.  And  so  the  war  went  on.  Howe  evacuated 
Philadelphia,  apprehending  attack  by  a  French  army 
and  fleet,  and  concentrated  his  forces  in  New  York. 
Thereafter  the  British  ministry  merely  aimed  to  worry 
the  Americans  by  incessant  petty  operations,  and  to 
save  from  the  wreck  what  fragments  seemed  most  avail- 
able. 

In  pursuance  of  the  first  scheme  the  Indians  were  in- 
duced to  assail  the  Americans  along  all  the  forest  frontier. 
The  Virginians,  exasperated  by  these  operations,  sent  an 
expedition  under  General  George  Rogers  Clarke  into  the 
Indian  country.  Clarke  captured  the  British  posts  in 
Illinois  and  Indiana,  and  thus  occupied  all  the  territory 
between  the  Great  Lakes  and  the  Ohio.  This  proved  a 
most  important  conquest,  as  otherwise  when  peace  came 
to  be  made  the  Ohio  and  not  the  lakes  would  have  been 
our  northern  frontier. 

To  carry  out  the  second  branch  of  the  scheme  of  min- 


The  Separatio7i  from  England.  83 

isters,  an  army  was  sent  to  the  extreme  South,  where  The  war  in  the 
there  were  many  loyahsts.  Georgia  and  South  CaroHna  ^°"^*^- 
were  conquered.  But  in  1780  General  Greene,  the 
American  commander,  succeeded  in  decoying  CornwaUis, 
with  the  main  British  army  of  the  South,  into  a  long  and 
fruitless  march  into  North  Carolina.  Then  when  Corn- 
waUis pushed  on  into  Virginia,  Greene  left  him  and 
threw  his  army  in  South  Carolina.  He  then  succeeded 
in  reconquering  both  that  state  and  Georgia. 

Meanwhile  a  powerful  French  fleet  and  army  had  ar-  surrender  of 
rived  on  the  coast.  Washington,  by  a  most  skilful  J^g™'"'^"'^' 
movement,  succeeded  in  throwing  the  combined  army 
into  Virginia  before  the  enemy  knew  his  objects.  Corn- 
waUis was  surrounded  at  Yorktown,  the  French  fleet 
blocking  up  the  exit  by  sea,  and  in  October,  1781,  the 
British  army  was  obliged  to  surrender. 

This  victory  put  an  end  to  the  war.      In  the  following 
year  a  treaty  of  peace  was  negotiated,  which  was  ratified   ^^^reaty  of  peace, 
in   1783.     The  independence  of  the  United  States  was 
acknowledged. 

In  the  course  of  the  negotiations  the  French  would 
have  been  quite  willing  to  limit  the  frontiers  of  the  new  of  Uie?epubHc.^ 
republic,  suggesting  that  the  British  possessions  extend 
south  to  the  Ohio,  and  that  in  the  West  a  belt  of  neutral 
territory,  to  be  held  by  the  Indians,  intervene  between 
the  United  States  and  British  America.  But  the  Ameri- 
can commissioners  held  firmly  to  the  lake  frontier,  and 
they  were  successful.^' 


*  The  map  on  page  90  shows  the  French  proposal.  Had  it  been  adopted, 
the  result  would  have  been  to  cut  the  United  States  off  from  expansion  west- 
ward. Fortunately,  the  victorious  campaign  of  General  George  Rogers 
Clarke  had  put  the  Northwest  already  under  the  American  flag  (see  p.  82). 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE    EVOLUTION    OF    NATIONAL    GOVERNMENT. 

References. — Bancroft  :  United  States  ;  Fiske  :  A  Critical 
Period  in  American  History  ;  McMaster  :  History  of  the  People 
of  the  Utiited  States,  Vol.  I.  ;  Curtis  :  Constitutional  History  of 
the  United  States ;  Bancroft:  History  of  the  Constitution. 

Seventeen  hundred  sixty-three  witnessed  univer- 
sal rejoicing  in  America  over  the  British  triumphs  in 
the  war  just  closed.  In  1776  the  same  colonists  threw 
off  with  indignation  the  yoke  of  English  tyranny.  Loy- 
alty and  affection  for  England  had  been  changed  to  bit- 
ter enmity  by  a  systematic  course  of  arrogant  misgov- 
ernment. 

It  has  been  thought  necessary  to  give  only  a  brief 
account  of  the  military  operations  of  the  Revolutionary 
War.  But  it  is  of  great  importance  to  trace,  at  least  in 
outline,  the  way  in  which  the  colonies  came  to  unite  for 
common  action. 

The  common  interests  of  the  colonies  were  not  numer- 
ous before  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century.  The 
French  wars  were  a  danger,  however,  which  called  for 
united  effort.  But  this  union  was  very  hard  to  secure. 
In  1754  a  conference   of  commissioners  from   several  of 

Franklin's  plan    ^^g  colouics  was  held  at  Albany,  and  here  Franklin  pro- 
of union,  1754.  ,  "^  ^ 

posed  a  scheme  for  a  united  government.      It  was  not  a 

bad  plan — decidedly  better,  in  fact,  than  the  Confedera- 
tion afterwards  adopted.  But  nobody  liked  it,  either  in 
England  or  America,  and  so  it  was  dropped. 

The  Stamp  Act  was  the  next  common  danger  which 

84 


How  the  colo- 
nies came  to 
unite. 


The  Evolution  of  National  Government. 


85 


threatened,  and  again  a  conference  was  held,  the  dele- 
gates of  nine  colonies  meeting  in  New  York  and  adopt- 
ing resolutions  of  protest  and  memorials  to  the  king  and 
Parliament.  But  of  course  this  conference,  like  that  of 
1754,  was  merely  ephemeral. 

When  Massachusetts  was  made  an  example  by  the 
crown  for  its  resistance  to  the  tax  on  tea,  again  the  colo- 
nies felt  they  were  all  in  danger  alike,  and  a  congress 
was  called  which  met  at  Philadelphia  in  September.  Of 
course  again  this  meeting,  like  its  predecessors,  was  a 
mere  conference,  without  authority  to  bind  anybody. 
But  it  was  a  sore  disappointment  to  the  king.  He  had 
hoped  that  he  could  deal  with  Massachusetts  alone,  and 
was  quite  sure  that 
the  other  colonies 
would  not  stir.  The 
convention  took 
what  action  seemed 
necessary,  and  be- 
fore adjourning  pro- 
vided for  a  second 
general  congress,  to 
be  held  in  the  follow- 
ing May. 

It  will  be  noticed 
that  each  of  these 
gatherings  was 
called  a  '  'congress, ' ' 
not  a  ' '  parliament. ' ' 
Had  there  been  con- 
nected with  them 
any  idea  of  authority 
to  govern,  the  latter  term,  or  perhaps  "legislature," 
would  have  been  used.     The  name  congress  was  com- 


The  Stamp  Act 
Congress,  1765. 


The  First  Con- 
tinental Con- 
gress, 1774. 


Independence  Hall,  Philadelphia. 


86 


The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


A  revolutionary 
government. 


mon  in  European  diplomacy,  applied  to  meetings  of 
sovereigns  or  their  ambassadors  for  consultation,  with 
no  power  to  bind  any  one  to  action. 

When  the  second  general  convention  of  the  colonies 
met  in  Philadelphia  in  May,  1775,  it  was  confronted  with 
the  fact  that  war  had  actually  begun.  Blood  had  been 
shed  at  Lexington,  and  the  British  troops  in  Boston 
were  held  closely  besieged  by  the  New  Englanders.  The 
flames  of  revolt  had  burst  out  in  every  colony.  It  was 
plain  that  the  only  hope  of  success  lay  in  concerted  ac- 
tion, and  there  was  no  governmental  machinery  provided 
for  that  purpose.  Accordingly  the  congress,  by  mere 
force  of  circumstances,  assumed  the  functions  of  a  general 
government.  It  proceeded  to  organize  a  continental 
army,  most  wisely  and  fortunately  selecting  George 
Washington  as  its  commander.  It  recommended  the 
colonies  to  form  governments  of  their  own,  independent 
of  the  crown.  It  made  what  provision  it  could  for  getting 
money  and  munitions  of  war.  When  the  fixed  determi- 
nation of  the  British  government  to  subjugate  the  colo- 
nies was  apparent,  when  all  suggestions  of  accommoda- 
tion had  been  rejected,  and  German  soldiers  had  been 
hired  to  help  destroy  the  liberties  of  America,  the  con- 
gress resolved  that  independence  was  expedient.  But  it 
did  not  venture  to  take  formal  action  until  the  colonies 
had  been  consulted.  With  their  approval,  it  formally 
adopted  a  declaration  of  independence,  and  at  the  same 
time  set  on  foot  two  other  necessary  measures — the  se- 
curing of  foreign  alliances  and  the  adoption  of  a  settled 
form  of  government  for  the  United  States. 

It  will  thus  be  seen  that  the  conference  of  the  colonies 
had,  by  tacit  consent,  been  converted  into  a  government. 
It  was  a  revolutionary  government,  and  by  that  very  fact 
had  no  defined  powers.     Thus  it  was  at  once  stronger 


The  Evohdion  of  National  Gover?iment. 


87 


Finances. 


and  weaker  than   a  constitutional  government.      It  was 
stronger  because  there  was  no  limit  in  law  as  to  what  it 
could  do.      It  was  weaker  because,   in  fact,   it  had  no 
means    of    compelling 
obedience.       It  could 
only  advise  and    urge 
the    states    to    certain 
lines  of  action. 

The  most  difficult 
problem  of  the  revo- 
lutionary congress  was 
finance.  As  there  was 
no  power  to  levy  taxes, 
the  resources  of  the 
treasury  were  very  un- 
certain. The  states 
were  requested  for  con- 
tributions— which  were 
given  or  withheld,  as 
local  whims  might  de- 
cide. After  the  alli- 
ance with  France 
seemed  to  insure  inde- 
pendence, some  loans  were  negotiated  abroad.  In  many 
cases  supplies  were  taken  for  the  army  in  return  for  mere 
receipts,  which  it  was  hoped  would  be  honored  when 
peace  should  come. 

But  the  most  obvious  method  of  tiding  over  the  emer- 
gency was  the  issue  of  bills  of  credit,  which  were  to  pass  currency, 
as  currency.  This  continental  currency  at  first  was 
taken  readily.  But  as  million  after  million  was  printed, 
as  the  credit  of  the  congress  appeared  more  and  more 
doubtful,  the  purchasing  power  of  the  paper  notes  sank 
lower  and  lower,  until  at  last  it  grew  so  worthless  that 


Liberty  Bell,  Independence  Hall, 
Philadelphia. 
It   was  the  ringing  of  this  bell  which  gave 
notice  to  the  assembled  people  in  the  streets 
that  the  Declaration  of  Independence  had 
been  adopted. 


88 


The  Growth  of  the  America?!  Nation. 


Fiske,  "Ameri- 
can Revo- 
lution," II.,  iqS 


A  settled  con- 
stitution. 


The  League  of 
Friendship. 


* '  not  worth  a  continental ' '  became  a  common  expression 
for  utter  nullity.  "During  the  summer  of  1780  this 
wretched  *  continental '  currency  fell  into  contempt.  As 
Washington  said,  it  took  a  wagon-load  of  money  to  buy 
a  wagon-load  of  provisions.  At  the  end  of  the  year 
1778  the  paper  dollar  was  worth  sixteen  cents  in  the 
Northern  States  and  twelve  cents  in  the  South.  Early 
in  1780  its  value  had  fallen  to  two  cents,  and  before  the 
end  of  the  year  it  took  ten  paper  dollars  to  make  a  cent. 
In  October  Indian  corn  sold  wholesale  in  Boston  for  $150 
a  bushel,  butter  was  $12  a  pound,  tea  $90,  sugar  $10, 
beef  $8,  coffee  $12,  and  a  barrel  of  flour  cost  $1,575. 
Samuel  Adams  paid  $2,000  for  a  hat  and  a  suit  of  clothes. 
The  money  soon  ceased  to  circulate,  debts  could  not  be 
collected,  and  there  was  a  general  prostration  of  credit. 
A  barber  in  Philadelphia  papered  his  shop  with 
bills,  and  a  dog  was  led  up  and  down  the  streets  smeared 
with  tar,  wnth  this  unhappy  money  sticking  all  over  him." 

On  the  7th  of  June,  1776,  there  were  introduced  in  the 
Continental  Congress  the  famous  resolutions  beginning, 
' '  That  these  united  colonies  are,  and  of  right  ought  to 
be,  free  and  independent  states."  The  third  resolution 
was,  ' '  That  a  plan  of  confederation  be  prepared  and 
transmitted  to  the  respective  colonies,  for  their  considera- 
tion and  approbation."  No  argument  was  needed  to 
show  that  if  independence  was  to  be  maintained  there 
must  be  a  permanent  union  and  an  authoritative  govern- 
ment. 

But  the  exigencies  of  war  prevented  immediate  action 
on  this  subject.  It  was  not  until  November  of  1777,  in- 
deed, that  the  congress  finally  adopted  a  draft  of  a  con- 
stitution which  it  called  ' '  Articles  of  Confederation  and 
Perpetual  Union,"  and  which  was  sent  to  the  states  for 
ratification. 


The  Evolution  of  National  Government.  89 

By  these  articles  there  was  estabhshed  a  league  of  The  Articles  of 
friendship  and  a  confederate  government.  The  govern-  Confederation, 
ment  consisted  merely  in  a  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  to  which  each  state  might  send  from  two  to  seven 
delegates,  as  it  should  choose.  Each  state  had  one  vote 
in  the  Congress,  thus  disregarding  differences  of  wealth 
and  population.  This  provision  was  naturally  adopted  in 
the  conferences  called  congresses  preceding  the  war,  had 
as  of  course  been  followed  in  the  war  congress,  and  now 
was  made  part  of  the  constitution.  The  Confederate 
Congress  was  to  have  no  power  to  levy  taxes  of  any 
kind,  but  for  its  financial  needs  was  merely  to  request 
each  state  to  pay  its  due  proportion.  There  was  no 
executive  and  no  regular  judiciary.  No  important  law 
could  be  enacted  without  the  affirmative  vote  of  two 
thirds  of  the  states  in  Congress,  and  the  constitution 
could  not  be  amended  without  the  approval  of  Congress 
and  the  subsequent  assent  of  all  the  states. 

This  frame  of  government  was  very  slight.  But  at  .. 
least  it  was  a  common  government  for  all  the  states,  and 
provided  for  a  perpetual  union.  Should  it  be  adopted, 
the  informal  and  wholly  voluntary  concord  of  the  states 
in  their  resistance  to  Great  Britain  would  be  converted 
into  a  definite  and  legal  confederacy. 

By  1780,  all  the  states  had  assented  to  the  articles  but  The  western 
Maryland.      Her   objection  was    the  lands  west    of  the  '^"  ^" 
Alleghenies  which  some  of  the  states  claimed. 

The  original  charters,  in  the  breezy  way  in  which  popes 
and  kings  then  disposed  of  the  earth,  made  the  land 
grants  extend  westward  to  the  South  Sea.  By  the  treaty 
with  France,  in  1763,  England  relinquished  her  claims 
west  of  the  Mississippi.  Then  Massachusetts,  Connecti- 
cut, Virginia,  the  Carolinas,  and  Georgia  claimed  to  ex- 
tend as  far  as  that  river.     New  York  claimed  what  was 


90 


The   Growth  of  the  Ajiierican  Nation. 


See  p.  82. 


Fears  of 
Maryland. 


north  of  the  Ohio,  on  the  ground  of  a  treaty  with  the 
Indians.  But  in  1778  Virginia  had  sent  an  expedition 
under  Gen.  George  Rogers  Clarke  against  the  British 
posts  in  the  IlHnois  country,  and  had  succeeded  in  tak- 
ing actual  possession  of  the  vast  territory  between  the 
Ohio  and  the  lakes.  It  was  now  apprehended  by  Mary- 
land that  these  rich  western  lands  would  make  the  states 
owning  them  so  wealthy  and  powerful  that  the  other  states 
in  the  Confederacy  would  be  oppressed.      Accordingly 


Cession  of  the 
lands. 


The  treaty  of 

peace,  1783. 


her  delegates  were  instructed  not  to  ratify  the  Articles 
unless  the  lands  in  question  should  be  ceded  to  the  en- 
tire union.  New  York  and  Virginia  set  the  example  of 
taking  this  patriotic  action,  and  the  other  states  followed. 
Assured  of  this  result,  Maryland  ratified,  in  1781,  and 
thus  the  Articles  of  Confederation  went  into  effect. 

Peace  was    made  with    England    in    1783.     The   in- 
dependence of  the  United  States  was  recognized.     The 


The  Evolution  of  National  Government.  91 

Great  Lakes  and  the  Mississippi  were  made  the  bound- 
aries on  the  north  and  west.  Thus  the  new  nation  had 
won  its  Hberty  and  had  an  ample  domain  for  future 
growth. 

But  peace  did  not  mean  prosperity.     The  war  had 
shattered  business.     The  states  were  heavily  in  debt.    Social  dis- 

T»    1     11'  organization. 

Rebellion,  although  success  had  made  it  revolution,  yet 
had  taught  the  people  turbulence  and  lawlessness.  And 
the  confusion  and  distress  of  the  next  half  dozen  years 
showed  conclusively  that  without  an  adequate  govern- 
ment civil  society  can  make  no  assured  progress. 

The  Articles  of  Confederation  proved  utterly  ineffect- 
ive.    The  new  republic  could  not  make  satisfactory  treaty   The  Confeder- 

^       •'  -^     ation  a  failure. 

arrangements  with  foreign  nations,  because  it  had  no 
power  either  to  carry  out  an  agreement  or  to  retaliate 
for  injuries.  One  article  of  the  treaty  with  England  pro- 
vided that  Congress  should  use  its  influence  to  secure 
the  payment  of  private  debts  due  to  Englishmen.  But 
it  turned  out  that  Congress  had  no  influence,  and  the 
debts  were  not  paid.  In  consequence  the  British  refused 
to  give  up  military  posts  which  they  held  in  the  West. 
American  merchant  ships  were  captured  by  the  Barbary 
privates  with  impunity.  Congress  had  no  money  to 
bribe  them  and  no  navy  to  fight  them. 

The  states  quarreled  incessantly.  As  they  had  the  Quarrels  of 
sole  right  of  levying  duties  on  imports,  they  set  out  to  ^^e  states. 
compete  with  one  another  for  foreign  commerce,  each 
hoping  to  build  up  its  own  trade  at  the  expense  of  its 
neighbors' .  And  not  content  with  this  they  taxed  im- 
ports from  other  states.  New  York  laid  a  duty  on  the 
products  of  New  Jersey  and  Connecticut.  New  Jersey 
retaliated  by  taxing  the  New  York  lighthouse  on  Sandy 
Hook.  New  Hampshire  and  New  York  nearly  came  to 
blows  over  their  conflicting  claims  to  Vermont.      Pennsyl- 


92 


The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation, 


vania  and  Connecticut  wrangled  over  the  title  to  land  in 
the  valley  of  Wyoming. 

Meanwhile  not  merely  was  the  national  debt,  over  $50,- 
000,000,  unpaid,  but  no  provision  whatever  was  made  for 
either  principal  or  interest.  Congress  tried  hard  enough 
to  get  the  money.  But  the  states  did  not  pay  their 
shares.  Of  some  $8,000,000  due  on  requisitions  of  Con- 
gress from  1 78 1  to  1783,  less  than  $500,000  had  been 
paid  in  the  latter  year.  The  first  installment  of  the  pub- 
lic debt  was  due  in  1787.  At  that  time  only  New  York 
and  Pennsylvania  had  paid  their  quotas  in  full.  New 
Hampshire  and  North  Carolina  had  paid  nothing.  And 
in  1786  New  Jersey  flatly  refused  to  pay  a  cent.  And  of 
course,  in  consequence,  the  public  credit  was  so  low  that 
a  loan  could  not  be  effected. 

In  several  of  the  states  discontent  and  lawlessness  were 
rife.  Everybody  was  in  debt,  everybody  was  poor,  every- 
body grumbled.  The  people  of  Rhode  Island  thought 
they  had  hit  on  a  solution  of  their  troubles  when  they 
issued  a  legal  tender  paper  currency.  Any  farmer  could 
borrow  this  from  the  public  treasury  on  security  of  one 
half  the  appraised  value  of  his  land.  But  at  once  depre- 
ciation began,  and  the  legislature  passed  the  most  frantic 
laws  in  the  attempt  to  keep  their  rag  money  at  par.  Of 
course  they  failed — as  all  fiat  money  devices  always  have 
failed  and  always  will  fail.  In  Massachusetts  riots  broke 
out  against  the  courts  which  were  enforcing  the  collec- 
tion of  debts  by  legal  process.  And  the  disturbances 
culminated  in  organized  insurrection  which  was  only 
quelled  by  military  force. 

Repeated  attempts  had  been  made  to  amend  the 
Articles  of  Confederation  so  as  to  give  the  general  gov- 
ernment a  revenue  and  some  little  power.  But  as  the 
objection  of  a  single  state  sufliced  to  defeat  amendment, 


The  Evolution  of  National  Government.  93 

it  had  proven  impossible  to    secure  any  improvement. 

The  simple  truth  was  that  the  imbecile  structure  of  „  ^^     . 
government  made  the  success  of  the  republic  impossible,    collapse. 
The  country  was  fast  drifting  toward  anarchy  and  civil 
war.     The  best  friends   of  America  in  Europe  despaired 
of   the  possibility  of  the  perpetuity  of  the  new  nation.    ^^^^^  ceoro^ 
And  George  III.  had  no  doubt  at  all  that  in  a  short  time   ni.thoughu 
the  states  would  be  begging  on  their  knees  to  come  back 
under  his  benign  sway. 

It  was  under  these  discouraging  and  alarming  circum-    ^^^  convention 
stances  that  in  the  spring  of  1787  a  convention  met  at  0^1787- 
Philadelphia  to  see  if  the  crazy  structure  of  government 
under  the  Articles  of  Confederation  could  be  amended. 
Maryland  and  Virginia  had  had  trouble  about  the  navi- 
gation of  the  Potomac.      In  1785  commissioners  of  those 
states  met  to  adjust  the  difficulties.      It  soon   appearing 
that  there  were  questions  involved  which  went  beyond 
the  two  states,  the  commissioners  advised  that  a  general 
conference  be  held  to  see  what  could  be  done  in  the 
interest  of  commerce.     This  conference  was  held  at  An-   ^^^  Annapolis 
napolis  in  the  following  year,   being  attended    by  dele-   conference,  1786. 
gates    from  only    five    states.       They  did  not  feel    like 
acting,   inasmuch  as  they   were  so  few,   but  adopted  a 
recommendation  for  a  convention  of  all  the  states  to  be 
held  at  Philadelphia  in  1787  to   consider  and  report  on   ^hePhiia- 
the  question  of  improving  the  existing  frame  of  govern-   ^^[jj^j^  7^"g-^ 
ment.      Congress  was  led  to  sanction   the  meeting,  and 
all  the  states  but  Rhode  Island  appointed  delegates. 

The  emergency  was  so  grave  that  the  states  generally 
selected  their  strongest  men.  Of  the  fifty-five  delegates  The  delegates. 
who  at  one  time  or  other  were  present,  upwards  of 
thirty  were  lawyers,  including  some  of  the  ablest  jurists 
in  America.  The  great  name  of  Washington  at  once 
commanded  respect  for  the  convention,  while  such  men 


94 


The   Growth  of  the  America7i  Nation. 


A  new  consti- 
tution. 


The  plans. 


The  difficulties. 


as  Madison  from  Virginia,  Hamilton  from   New  York, 
Franklin  and  Wilson  from   Pennsylvania,   would  have 
made  any  assembly  illustrious.     Washington  was  chosen 
president,  and  it  was  decided  to  sit  with  closed  doors. 
No  sooner  was  the  problem  of  the  convention  fairly 

stated  than  it  was 
clear  to  the  majority 
that  it  was  idle  to  at- 
tempt amendment.  A 
new  plan  altogether 
was  much  more  feas- 
ible. 

The  plan  offered 
by  New  Jersey  dele- 
gates would  have  pre- 
served the  independ- 
ence of  the  states, 
merely  strengthening 
somewhat  the  central 
government.  The 
plan  of  the  Virginia 
delegates  formed  a 
much  stronger  gen- 
eral government,  with 
a  distinct  executive 
and  judiciary,  and  a 
this  latter  plan  which 


Old  South  Church,  Boston. 
A  light  in  the  belfry  of  this  church  in  the  night 
of  April  18, 1775,  gave  warning  to  the  patriots 
that  the  British  expedition  had  set  out  '" 
Concord. 


for 


congress  of  two  houses.      It  was 
the  convention  modified  and  adopted. 

The  main  difficulties  of  the  convention  were  how  to 
reconcile  conflicting  interests.  In  the  first  place,  the 
small  states  were  jealous  of  the  relative  weight  of  the 
large  states.  Massachusetts,  Virginia,  Pennsylvania, 
North  Carolina,  the  most  populous  states,  insisted  that 
in  both   Houses  of  Congress  representation  should  be 


The  Evolictioii  of  National  Govern7ne7it.  95 

proportioned  to  population.     The  small  states,  aided  by   The  large  states 
some  votes  from  those  of  medium  position,  insisted  that  states^^  ^'"^'^ 
in  each  House  every  state  should  have  one  vote,  irre- 
spective of  population.      On  this  issue  the  convention 
was  nearly  wrecked,  for  feeling  ran  high,  and  both  sides 
were  obstinate.      But  the  dispute  was  settled  by  the  com- 
promise offered  by  the  Connecticut  delegates,  whereby 
there  was  to  be  equal  representation  in  the  Senate  and  rep-  JJl^com""^-^'' 
resentation  according  to  population  in  the  Lower  House.    '"'^^• 

The  second  serious  dispute  related  to  the  status   of 
negroes  as  related  to  political  representation.       Slaves 
were  held  in  nearly  all  the  states,  but  it  was  only  south 
of  Pennsylvania  that  they  were  a  large  part  of  the  com-   ^he  enumer- 
munity.     Accordingly  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  in-  ation  of  slaves. 
sisted  that  in  estimating  population  for  the  apportionment 
of    representation    the    negroes    should     be    counted. 
Northern  delegates  insisted  as  strenuously  that  if  they 
were  held  as  property  they  should  not  count  as  men.     It 
was  agreed  finally  that  the  negroes  should  be  counted, 
both  for  representation  and  for  direct  taxes,  but  only  at   Madison's 
the  rate  of  five  negroes  as  equivalent  to  three  white  men.    compromise. 
This  was  Madison's  plan. 

The  third  dispute  related  to  the  control  of  Congress 
over  commerce.     The  Northern  States  wanted  Congress 
to  have  full  power  of  legislation  on  commercial  regu- 
lation, and  at  the  same  time  they  were  eager  to  put  an 
end  to  the  slave  trade.     The  far  South  opposed  both  commerce  and 
propositions,  and  South  Carolina  flatly  refused  to  assent  ^^^  ^^^^^  ^''^^^• 
to  the  constitution  should  the  slave  trade  be  forbidden. 
This  also  was  settled  by  compromise.       Congress  was   The  third 
given  power  to  regulate  commerce,  and  the  slave  trade  compromise, 
was  not  to  be  prohibited  before  1808. 

These   three   compromises    had   far-reaching    effects. 
The  equal  representation   of  the  states  in   the  Senate 


96 


The   Growth  of  the  Aynerican  Nation. 


Results  of  the 
compromises. 


The 

compromises 

necessary. 


Essential  ideas 
of  the  new  plan. 


has  made  it  possible  for  a  group  of  ' '  rotten  borough  ' ' 
states  to  endanger  the  prosperity  of  the  whole  country. 
The  concession  of  the  three  fifths  ratio  for  slavery  in- 
trenched that  institution  in  the  constitution,  and  was 
* '  the  beginning  of  woes ' '  in  the  long  train  of  sinister 
strife  which  ended  in  the  Civil  War  and  in  the  miseries  of 
the  reconstruction  epoch.  On  the  other  hand,  if  Con- 
gress had  been  denied  the  power  to  regulate  commerce, 
the  federal  government  would  have  lacked  little  of  the 
imbecility  of  the  Confederation. 

But  whatever  we  may  think  about  the  propriety  of  the 
compromises,  one  thing  we  may  as  well  keep  in  mind — 
without  them  the  constitution  would  never  have  been  made. 
The  Confederation  could  not  have  lasted.  A  cluster  of 
discordant  and  weak  republics,  incessant  wars,  the  pre- 
dominance on  this  continent  of  Great  Britain — these 
would  have  been  the  epitome  of  our  history  for  the  last 
century  had  the  constitution  failed.  The  compromises 
and  their  results  are  the  price  we  have  paid  for  national 
existence  and  national  glory. 

Other  difficulties  were  settled  without  serious  trouble, 
and  in  September  the  convention  sent  their  draft  of  a 
constitution  to  Congress,  and  adjourned. 

The  new  plan  of  government  differed  from  the  old  in 
vital  particulars.  There  was  provided  a  definite  frame 
of  government,  with  a  powerful  executive  and  a  dis- 
tinct federal  judiciary.  The  powers  granted  to  this 
government  made  it  a  substantial  and  independent  real- 
ity. Congress  could  lay  and  collect  taxes  without  de- 
pending on  the  caprice  of  the  states.  The  federal  con- 
stitution and  laws  were  made  supreme  over  state  enact- 
ments. The  federal  court  was  bound  to  apply  this  su- 
preme law  of  the  land,  and  the  federal  executive  was 
enabled  to  enforce  it. 


The  Evolution  of  National  Government.  97 

The  constitution  provided  that  it  should  be  passed  on 
by  state  conventions  elected  for  that  purpose,  not  by  the 
existing  legislatures,  and  that  it  should  go  into  effect 
when  ratified  by  nine  states.  As  the  elections  proceeded 
it  was  evident  that  very  few  people  were  really  satisfied.  Action  of  the 
Some  thought  the  constitution  established  too  strong  a  ^^^^^s. 
government ;  others  thought  it  too  weak.  New  York 
was  bitterly  opposed  to  it.  The  Massachusetts  conven- 
tion was  carried  for  ratification  only  with  great  difficulty. 
Rhode  Island  and  North  Carolina  refused  to  ratify  at  all, 
and  only  came  into  the  Union  after  Washington  had  for 
some  time  been  president.  But  in  one  way  or  another 
eleven  states  were  induced  to  ratify,  and  Congress  or- 
dained that  the  new  machinery  of  government  should  go 
into  operation  with  the  opening  months  of  the  year  1789.   •^^^'"nJ^^'aid^. 

The   Articles  of  Confederation   provided   that   there  "  The  consti- 

'^  _  tution  was  ex- 

should  be  no  amendment  without  the  unanimous  consent  f°"*^^  ^y  grind- 
ing necessity 

of  the  states.     The  Articles  were  set  aside  and  a  new  or-  from  a  reluctant 

people.  ' 

ganic  law  put  in  force  against  the  will  of  two  of  the  states. 
Hence  it  is  plain  that  the  action  by  which  the  constitu- 
tion was  adopted  and  enforced  was,  lesfally  speaking:,  as   The  adoption  of 

^     .  '        &       y      f  *'  the  constitution 

much  a  revolution  as  was  that  of  1775.     Fortunately  this   ^  revolution, 
revolution  was  accomplished  without  bloodshed.      But  it 
is  just  as  well  to  remember  that  it  ze^^^  a  revolution.    The 
eleven  states  simply  seceded  from  the  Confederation  and 
formed  a  new  government. 

But  our  national   life    beg^ins  with    the  revolution   of  „,    ,     .    . 

^  1  he  beginning 

1789.     Until  1 78 1  the  colonies  were  entirely  independent  of  national  life. 
of  one  another,  only  acting  together  by  common  consent. 
From  1 78 1  to  1789  the  states  formed  a  loose  and  dis- 
cordant  confederacy.      Since   1789   there    has    been    an 
American  nation. 


98 


The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


SUMMARY    OF    PART    II. 


The  colonies 
firmly  estab- 
lished. 


Taxation  leads 
to  war. 


Congresses. 


Independence. 


The  French 
alliance. 


Peace, 


When  the  French  wars  ended  in  the  expulsion  of 
France  from  American  soil,  the  English  colonies  had  be- 
come firmly  established.  They  had  a  considerable  popu- 
lation, carried  on  a  successful  commerce  and  agriculture, 
and  had  a  vigorous  local  life.  Withal  they  were  warmly 
attached  to  the  mother-country. 

But  the  great  wars  had  plunged  Great  Britain  deeply 
in  debt.  And  ministers,  casting  about  for  ways  and 
means,  bethought  themselves  of  shifting  a  part  of  the 
burden  on  the  American  colonists.  To  this  the  Ameri- 
cans flatly  refused  to  submit,  partly  because  they  had 
already  done  their  share,  but  mainly  because  they  de- 
nied the  taxing  power  of  a  parliament  in  which  the  colo- 
nies were  not  represented.  As  the  British  government 
stubbornly  persisted  in  its  policy,  words  finally  led  to 
blows,  and  in  1775  open  war  began. 

The  colonies  held  a  series  of  conferences,  called  con- 
gresses, for  the  consideration  of  common  concerns.  And 
the  Continental  Congress  of  1775  assumed  the  authority 
of  a  general  government. 

At  the  outset  the  Americans  took  up  arms  merely  for 
the  redress  of  grievances.  But  after  a  year  of  war  pub- 
lic feeling  had  become  so  exasperated  that  independence 
of  Great  Britain  was  formally  declared. 

The  failure  of  Burgoyne's  invasion  in  1777,  and  the 
capture  of  his  whole  army  by  the  Americans,  convinced 
France  that  the  ''  rebels"  would  finally  succeed,  and  so 
the  old  enemy  of  England  joined  in  the  war  as  an  ally 
of  the  United  States.  Largely  by  French  aid  the  war 
was  brought  to  an  end,  and  Great  Britain  was  obliged  to 
recognize  the  independence  of  the  revolted  colonies. 

While  the  war  was  in  progress,  the  states  adopted  a 


Summary  of  Part  II.  99 

constitution  of  government,  called  "Articles  of  Con- 
federation. ' '      This  proved  a  very  loose  and  weak  device,    The  Articles  of 

^  -^  '     Confederation. 

and  under  it  the  states,  when  the  war  came  to  an  end, 
were  in  a  state  of  discord  nearly  approaching  anarchy. 
They  had  originally  been  entirely  separate  one  from  an- 
other, and  had  been  brought  together  only  by  the  com- 
mon danger.  The  critical  state  of  affairs  finally  led  to 
the  appointment  of  delegates  to  a  general  convention  for 
the  revision  of  the  Articles  of  Confederation.  This  con- 
vention, meeting  at  Philadelphia  in  1787,  formed  an  en- 
tirely new  constitution  which  provided  a  strong  govern- 
ment.     This  constitution  was  ratified  by  the  states,  al-   The  constitu- 

.  .         .       tion. 

though  many  were  reluctant,  and  went  into  operation  in 
1789. 

Thus  the  folly  of  the  British  government  drove  the 
colonies  into  revolt,  and  persistence  in  the  same  stupid   The  colonies 

^      ,  ,  ^  driven  to  be- 

policy  changed  the  revolt  mto  a  war  of  mdependence. 
The  necessity  of  mutual  help  in  the  war  compelled  union. 
And  after  victory  was  won  the  pressing  dangers  of  an- 
archy and  possible  civil  war  forced  the  states  to  draw 
their  union  closer  and  to  convert  their  loose  Confedera- 
tion into  a  real  nation.  In  other  words,  the  scattered 
colonies  became  a  compact  nation,  not  from  the  prevision 
and  deliberate  building  of  statesmanship,  but  simply  by 
the  sheer  compulsion  of  unforeseen  events. 


come  a  nation. 


PART  III. 

THE    DOMINANCE   OF    FOREIGN 
RELATIONS. 


PART  III-THE  DOMINANCE  OF  FOREIGN 
RELATIONS. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE    ORGANIZATION    OF    THE    NATION. 

References.— Schouler  :  United  States,  Vol.  I.  ;  Hildreth  : 
United  States,  Vol.  I.  ;  McMaster,  Vol.  I.  ;  Lodge's  Hamilton 
and  Morse's  Jefferson,  in  the  Statesmen  Series  ;  Marshall  : 
Life  of  Washington. 

The  constitution  having^  been  ratified  by  the  requisite 

.  ^  J  ^  Action  of  the 

number  of  states,  it  devolved  on  the  Congress  of  the  old  Congress, 
expiring  Confederation  to  make  proper  arrangements  for 
setting  the  new  government  in  motion.  Accordingly  an 
act  of  September,  1788,  provided  that  electors  should 
be  chosen  on  the  first  Wednesday  in  January,  that  the 
electors  should  vote  for  president  and  vice-president  on 
the  first  Wednesday  in  February,  and  that  the  new  Con- 
gress should  meet  on  the  first  Wednesday  in  March, 
1789.  The  last  date  happened  to  fall  on  the  4th.  The 
elections  were  duly  held,  electors  in  nearly  all  the  states 
being  chosen  by  the  legislatures.  Senators  and  mem- 
bers of  the  Lower  House  were  elected  in  the  various 
states ;  the  electors  met   in  February  and  unanimously 

Election  of 

chose  George  Washington  president,  with  John  Adams  Washington, 
as  vice-president.  In  March  the  members  of  Congress 
began  to  assemble  In  New  York,  the  temporary  capital. 
But  it  was  not  until  April  that  a  quorum  of  the  Senate 
was  in  attendance  and  the  electoral  votes  could  be 
counted.      By  the  time  that  Washington  and  Adams  had 


I04  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Inauguration  of 
government. 


The  executive 
departments. 


Thejudiciary. 


been  notified  of  their  election  and  had  come  to  the  seat 
of  government  the  rest  of  the  month  was  nearly  gone. 
It  was  on  April  30  that  the  first  president  was  inaugurated, 
with  a  simple  but  dignified  ceremonial. 

The- national  legislature  and  the  head  of  the  executive 
branch  were  now  ready  for  duty.  It  remained  to  organ- 
ize the  executive  departments  and  the  judiciary. 

It  was  agreed  that  the  departments  should  be  three — 
state,  war,  treasury.     The  old  Congress  had  had  quite 

enough  of  execu- 


3 

J 


X  tive  boards,  which 

had  merely  bred 
^\  quarrels     and 

feeble  adminis- 
tration. So  each 
executive  depart- 
ment was  placed 
under  a  single 
person,  who  was 
called  a  secre- 
tary. 

The  judiciary 
act  of  the  First 
Congress  was 
framed  by  a  com- 
mittee of  the  Sen- 
ate, of  which 
Judge  Ellsworth,  of  Connecticut,  a  member  of  the  Con- 
stitutional Convention,  was  chairman.  It  provided  for 
a  supreme  court  of  six  justices,  and  for  district  courts,  as 
a  rule  each  state  forming  a  district.  Circuit  courts  were 
to  be  held,  a  supreme  justice  sitting  with  a  district  judge 
in  each.  An  attorney-general  was  also  provided.  It 
was  not  at  first  intended  that  he  should  give  his  whole 


George  Washington.    From  Houdon's  bust. 


The   Orgmiizatioji  of  the  Nation.  105 

time  to  public  duties,  and  indeed  in  the  early  years  he 
came  only  occasionally  to  the  seat  of  government,  spend- 
ing the  most  of  his  time  in  his  private  business. 

The  constitution  provided  that  appointments  to  the   ^^ 

^  ^  ^  fne  removing^ 

prmcipal  offices  of  state  should  be  made  by  the  presi-  power. 
dent  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate.  In  dis- 
cussing the  bills  for  the  executive  departments  the  ques- 
tion arose  whether  the  president  could  remove  an  ad- 
ministrative officer  whose  appointment  required  the  ap- 
proval of  the  Senate,  without  consulting  that  body.  The 
independence  of  the  president  was  secured  only  by  the 
casting  vote  of  the  vice-president.  But  that  was  suffi- 
cient to  establish  a  precedent  which  was  followed  until 
after  the  Civil  War. 

It  should  be  observed  that  in  establishinsf  executive  _, 

,  ^  The  cabinet* 

departments  Congress  had  no  idea  of  creating  a  cabinet. 
An  executive  council  was  not  contemplated  by  the  con- 
stitution, indeed  the  suggestion  being  negatived  by  the 
Philadelphia  convention.  Washington  advised  freely 
with  the  heads  of  departments,  but  it  was  individually, 
not  collectively,  and  often  in  writing.  And  he  consulted 
quite  as  freely  the  attorney-general,  the  chief  justice, 
and  the  vice-president.  It  was  not  until  nearly  the  end 
of  his  first  term  that  in  the  emergency  caused  by  the 
European  war  he  convened  a  meeting  of  heads  of  de- 
partments for  consultation.  And  this  was  the  beginning 
of  the  American  cabinet — a  body  wholly  extra-legal  and 
merely  advisory,  without  a  particle  of  authority.  Thus 
it  is  wholly  unlike  a  European  cabinet. 

Washington's  selections  for  appointment  were  highly 
judicious.      His  criteria  were  three — integrity,  capacity, 
conspicuousness.      He  also  incidentally  considered  geo-   ^j^^  ^^^^ 
graphical  distribution.     As  secretary  of  state  he  chose  IPEoule"?,!"!!^. 
Thomas  Jefferson,  of  Virginia,  whose  able  legislative  and 


io6  The  Growth  of  the  Americayi  Nation. 


The  first  tariff 
act,  1789. 


The  Tonnage 
Act. 


diplomatic  services  made  him  eminently  fit.  Alexander 
Hamilton,  of  New  York,  was  appointed  secretary  of  the 
treasury.  The  office  was  first  offered  to  Robert  Morris, 
the  famous  revolutionary  financier,  but  he  declined  and 
recommended  Hamilton.  Gen.  Henry  Knox,  of  Massa- 
chusetts, a  gallant  artillery  ofhcer  of  the  revolutionary 
army,  was  made  secretary  of  war,  continuing  the  duties 
he  already  exercised  under  the  Confederation.  Governor 
Edmund  Randolph,  of  Virginia,  became  attorney-gen- 
eral, and  John  Jay,  of  New  York,  chief  justice  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  "Integrity,  capacity,  conspicuous- 
ness" — surely  these  qualities  were  illustrated  in  marked 
degree  by  that  cluster  of  brilliant  statesmen. 

Meanwhile  Congress  had  been  busy  providing  an  in- 
come. The  two  obvious  modes  were  a  duty  on  imports 
and  an  internal  revenue  tax.  The  former  was  chosen  as 
less  open  to  objection,  and  the  first  federal  tariff  act  be- 
came a  law  by  the  signature  of  President  Washington  on 
the  4th  of  July,  1789.  Its  preamble  recited  its  pur- 
poses to  be  the  production  of  revenue  and  the  protection 
of  home  industries,  and  the  debates  show  that  the  pro- 
tective feature  was  quite  prominent.^  Since  the  war  the 
old  English  restrictions  on  American  manufactures  had 
disappeared,  and  such  industries  were  rising  on  all  sides. 
Free  trade  was  not  an  eighteenth  century  idea,  and  the 
only  lesson  the  colonists  had  learned  from  England  was 
that  the  English  government  had  always  used  all  its 
powers  for  the  aid  of  English  commerce.  The  Ameri- 
cans now  proposed  to  do  the  same  for  their  own. 

A  similar  policy  prevailed  in  a  second  revenue  meas- 
ure, that  laying  a  tonnage   duty  on  ships.      This  taxed 


*  The  preamble  to  the  act  reads  :  "  Whereas,  It  is  necessary  for  the  support 
of  the  government,  for  the  discharge  of  the  debts  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
encouragement  and  protection  of  manufactures,  that  duties  be  laid  on  goods, 
wares,  and  merchandise  imported,     .    .     ." 


The   Organizatio7i  of  the  Natio7i,  107 

vessels  built  and  owned  in  the  United  States  six  cents  a 
ton,  those  built  but  not  owned  in  the  United  States  thirty 
cents,  the  same  for  ships  of  powers  having  treaties  with 
the  United  States,  and  all  others  fifty  cents. 

The  debates  on  these  acts  were  warm,  but  not  acri-  -phe  president's 
monious.  More  heat  was  displayed  when  the  question  ^'^^^' 
arose  at  the  outset  as  to  the  title  by  which  the  president 
should  be  addressed.  The  Senate  wished  to  call  him 
**His  Highness,  the  President  of  the  United  States  of 
America  and  Protector  of  Their  Liberties."  The  House 
insisted  on  styling  him  simply  ' '  The  President  of  the 
United  States,"  in  the  words  of  the  constitution,  and  this 
sensible  view  prevailed.  But  there  was  a  great  fusilade 
of  oratory  in  both  Houses. 

The  first  session  of  the  First  Congress  was  adjourned 
in  September,  for  a  recess  until  the  opening  of  the  new   1789- 
year.     But  before  adjourning,  the  House  requested  the 
secretary  of  the  treasury  to  prepare  a  report  on  the  pub-  ^  ^^,^ 

lie  credit.     And  this  important  document,   the  first  of  report  on  the 

^  ^  public  credit. 

Hamilton's  remarkable  reports,  was  laid  before  the  House 
of  Representatives  when  Congress  reassembled  in  the 
winter  of  1790. 

The  public  debt  incurred  by  the  Revolutionary  War  schouier,  i.,  130. 
Hamilton  divided  into  three  distinct  portions.  The  first 
was  that  which  was  owed  in  Europe,  largely  to  France, 
some  to  Holland,  a  little  to  Spain.  This  amounted, 
principal  and  interest,  to  about  $12,000,000.  The  sec- 
ond comprised  all  forms  of  domestic  indebtedness,  which, 
including  interest,  came  to  upwards  of  $42 ,  000, 000,  The 
third  included  the  war  debts  of  the  several  states,  and  was 
more  than  $20,000,000.  The  secretary  proposed  to  fund 
the  whole  into  United  States  bonds  running  for  a  definite  J^heme!"^'"^ 
time  and  bearing  a  fixed  interest,  six  per  cent  being  the 
maximum.     Then   duties  on   certain  specified   articles. 


Bronze  Statue  of  Alexander  Hamilton,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y. 
By  William  Ordway  Partridge. 


loS 


The   Organizatio7i  of  the  A^ation.  109 

with  an  internal  revenue  tax,  would  suffice  to  meet  the 
interest  and  in  the  end  to  pay  off  the  principal. 

There  was  no  difference  of  opinion  as  to  the  necessity 
and  duty  of  paying  the  foreign  debt  in  full.  But  there  ^ition 
unanimity  ceased,  and  the  other  features  of  the  plan  pro- 
voked violent  opposition.  As  to  the  domestic  debt,  very 
few  of  the  original  creditors  held  the  scrip.  It  had  passed 
from  hand  to  hand  at  increasing  rates  of  discount,  until 
the  final  holders  had  paid  twenty-five,  twenty,  and  even 
fifteen  cents  on  the  dollar.  To  pay  these  speculators  at 
par  would  yield  them  an  enormous  profit.  If  the  debt 
should  be  scaled  down  to  twenty-five  cents  on  the  dollar 
it  would  save  the  treasury  many  millions  and  still  hand- 
somely repay  the  speculators.  Moreover,  the  states  had 
been  accustomed  to  compound  with  their  creditors,  and 
it  was  on  that  supposition  that  the  certificates  had  been 
sold  at  so  low  a  rate.  It  was  now  manifestly  unjust  to 
pay  what  nobody  expected  to  get.  And  if  anybody  had 
a  title  to  full  payment  it  was  not  the  speculators  at  all, 
but  the  original  creditors,  and  these  had  long  since  sold 
out. 

To  these  arguments,  certainly  plausible,  the  only  re- 
ply was  that  it  was  not  good  faith  for  the  nation  to  plan.' 
promise  to  pay  a  dollar  and  in  fact  to  pay  less — that  it 
did  not  concern  the  government  how  the  certificates 
came  to  pass  from  the  original  holders,  on  what  terms 
they  had  been  transferred,  or  who  were  the  present  own- 
ers— and  that,  aside  from  the  question  of  right,  it  would 
in  the  end  be  bad  policy  to  repudiate  any  part  of  the 
national  debt.  The  credit  of  the  republic  would  be  good 
in  the  money  markets  of  the  world  only  if  it  should  be 
understood  that  its  financial  promises  would  be  kept  to 
the  letter. 

Congress  decided  that  these  considerations  were  con- 


Violent  oppo- 


Defenseof  the 


no  The   Growth  of  the  America?i  Natioii. 


Assumption  of 
state  debts. 


elusive,   and   that   national   eredit   was  worth  the  cost. 
Accordingly  this  part  of  the  funding  plan  was  accepted. 

But  the  proposed  assumption  of  state  debts  aroused  a 
furious  quarrel.  No  one  had  thought  of  this  at  all.  No 
state  had  asked  or  expected  it.  Some  states  had  pro- 
vided for  their  debts.  Others  had  neglected  theirs.  To 
pay  them  all  with  federal  taxes  would  be  to  reward  sloth 
and  bad  faith  at  the  expense  of  thrift  and  integrity.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  would  cost  the  country  as  a  whole  no 
more,  whether  the  debts  were  paid  by  state  or  nation. 
As  the  states  had  under  the  constitution  lost  the  right  of 
levying  import  or  export  duties,  they  could  not  so  con- 
veniently get  the  taxes  as  could  the  United  States.  And, 
after  all,  the  debts  were  incurred  in  the  common  cause, 
and  it  did  not  therefore  seem  more  than  just  that  they 
should  be  paid  from  the  common  purse.  But  the  oppo- 
sition was  strong  enough  finally  to  defeat  assumption  in 
the  House  by  the  close  vote  of  thirty-one  to  twenty-nine. 
There  for  a  time  the  matter  rested. 

In  the  meantime,  a  new  question  had  caused  sharp 
division.  A  federal  capital  wholly  under  the  control  of 
Congress  was  evidently  necessary  for  the  national  dig- 
nity. New  York  and  Philadelphia  were  aspirants,  and 
the  southern  people  wanted  it  on  the  Potomac. 

Hamilton  now  proposed  to  Jefferson  a  plan  for  settling 
both  questions.  The  latter  was  to  induce  Virginia  op- 
ponents of  assumption  to  yield,  and  Hamilton  was  to 
secure  northern  votes  for  a  capital  in  the  South.  This 
was  done.  The  federal  capital  was  to  be  fixed  on  the 
Potomac,  Philadelphia  being  the  seat  of  government 
until  1800.  And  the  funding  bill  as  it  came  down  from 
the  Senate,  with  an  amendment  to  assume  state  debts  to 
the  amount  of  $21,500,000,  was  accepted  by  the  House. 

Hamilton    doubtless    had   ulterior   political   purposes 


The   Organization  of  the  Nation.  1 1 1 


which  he  did  not  reveal  to  Congress.     Funding  and  as-   Hamilton's 
sumption,  entirely  aside  from  their  financial  bearing,  he   "^°^'^^^- 
thought  would  be  powerful  means  of  welding  the  nation 
together  and  especially  of  consolidating  the  moneyed 
interests  in  favor  of  the  federal  government.      And  in 
this  he  was  certainly  successful. 

But  the  dissensions  which  these  financial  schemes  of  The  beginnings 
the  brilliant  secretary  aroused  in  Congress  were  reflected  partfes.'^^ 
in  the  country  at  large,  and  later  in  the  cabinet  of  Presi- 
dent Washington,  and  were  the  beginning  of  that  di- 
vergence of  political  views  which  led  shortly  after  to  the 
formation  of  distinct  national  political  parties.  Hence 
the  history  of  our  national  politics  may  be  said  properly 
to  have  had  its  beginning  in  this  second  session  of  the 
First  Congress,  in  1790. 

The  Tariff  Act  of  1789  had  been  adopted  without  any 
definite  idea  of  the  amount  of  revenue  which  the  new 
government  would  need.  The  adoption  of  Hamilton's 
schemes  for  funding,  including  the  assumption  of  the 
state  debts,  made  necessary  an  expenditure  much 
greater  than  the  income  from  customs,  and  therefore  a 
new  tax  was  imperative.  When  Congress  reassembled 
in  December,  1790,  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  recom-  The  excise, 
mended  an  excise  on  whisky,  as  being  calculated  to  yield 
the  needed  revenue,  and  at  the  same  time  as  a  tax  on  a 
luxury.  This  measure  was  adopted,  although  it  excited 
much  greater  opposition  than  had  the  tariff  bill.  And 
it  may  be  added  that  the  hostility  among  the  people  was 
very  bitter.  In  western  Pennsylvania  distilled  spirits 
were  a  principal  product,  and  in  the  scarcity  of  a  good 
circulating  medium  whisky  even  served  as  money. 
Among  the  mountaineers  of  that  rugged  country  the 
collection  of  the  tax  was  resisted  by  violence.  And  so 
far  did  this  go  that  in  1794  Washington  was  obliged  to 


1 1 2        The   G^'owih  of  the  American  Natio7i. 

The  Whisky        Send  an  army  across  the  mountains  to  bring"  the  frontier 
1794,  '        farmers  to  their  duty.      This   coUision  had  further  sig- 

nificance as  the  first  test  of  the  new  central  government 


Hamilton's 
third  report. 


against  local  insurrection.      And  the  constitution  proved 
adequate  to  the  emergency. 

A  third  report  by  Hamilton  at  the  winter  session  of 
1790-91  recommended  a  bank  of  the  United  States,  with 


The   Organization  of  the  Nation.  1 1 3 

branches  in  the  principal  cities.  The  federal  government 
was  to  own  a  fifth  of  the  stock,  to  have  a  fifth  of  the  di- 
rectors, and  to  have  some  advantages  besides.  The  states. 
bank  was  to  make  government  exchanges,  keep 
treasury  balances,  and  on  occasion  to  make  advances  to 
supply  temporary  public  needs.  It  was  to  carry  on  a 
general  banking  business,  and  to  issue  paper  currency, 
payable  in  gold  or  silver,  and  receivable  for  all  dues  to 
the  United  States.  This  proposition  not  only  aroused 
alarm  among  those  who  feared  the  association  of  gov- 
ernment with  banking,  but  was  attacked  on  the  ground 
that  the  constitution  gave  Congress  no  specific  authority 
to  charter  such  an  institution.  This  argument  Hamilton 
answered  by  the  theory  of  implied  powers — that  Con- 
gress had  the  power  to  do  anything  "necessary  and 
proper"  to  carry  into  effect  the  other  powers,  and  that 
a  bank  was  such  an  agency  for  carrying  on  the  fiscal 
operations  of  the  government.  Here  Madison  and  Jef- 
ferson took  issue  with  Hamilton,  and  from  this  time  the 
"loose  construction"  theory  of  Hamilton  and  the 
"strict  construction"  theory  of  Jefferson  began  to  be  stiturion. 
the  cardinal  principles  of  the  two  national  parties  which 
were  now  rapidly  forming.  The  bank  bill  was  passed 
and  became  a  law,  President  Washington  yielding  to  the 
views  of  the  secretary  of  the  treasury.  The  charter  was 
for  twenty  years  (1791-1811). 

Another  important  measure  of  the  indefatigable   sec-  ^^^^ 

retary  was  a  national  mint.  The  coins  in  common  use 
were  a  frightful  mixture  of  those  of  various  countries — 
English,  French,  Spanish,  Mexican,  of  many  denomina- 
tions, of  all  sorts  of  values— shillings,  crowns,  dollars, 
moidores,  joes,  half  joes.  Hamilton  proposed  a  uniform 
decimal  scale,  with  the  dollar  as  the  unit,  and  the  double 
standard.      The  former  was  a  very  novel  reform,   the 


114  '^^^^   Growth  of  the  A7nerica7i  Natioji. 


latter  was  in  deference  to  the  common  practice  in 
Europe.  But  the  ratio  between  gold  and  silver  in  this 
first  federal  law  on  the  subject  was  fixed  at  one  to  fifteen, 
and  thereby  at  once  illustrated  the  difficulty  of  fixing  a 
price  by  statute.  While  it  is  true  that  in  1792,  when 
the  act  was  passed,  fifteen  silver  dollars  were  about  the 
price  of  one  gold  dollar,  it  is  also  true  that  that  price 
was  rising,  and  continued  to  rise  for  many  years.  The 
result  was  that,  as  is  always  the  case  under  free  condi- 
tions, the  cheaper  metal  drove  the  dearer  out  of  circu- 
lation. Gold  disappeared,  and  in  place  of  a  double 
standard  we  had  practically  under  the  law  of  1792  a 
single  silver  standard. 

The  mint  bill  was  passed  with  little  political  heat.  The 
only  serious  discussion  related  to  Hamilton's  proposal  to 
put  the  head  of  the  president  on  the  coin.  This  was 
rejected,  as  savoring  too  much  of  monarchy.  Various 
suggestions  followed.  The  eagle  was  denounced  as  a 
rapacious  bird,  the  emblem  of  war.  Another  member 
then  gravely  suggested  the  goose,  as  a  bird  symbolizing 
peace  and  decorum.  The  matter  was  compromised  by 
selecting  the  lady  who  passes  as  the  goddess  of  liberty 
for  the  obverse,  with  various  devices,  an  eagle  being  the 
favorite,  for  the  reverse. 

The  organization  of  a  stable  government  was  imme- 
diately followed  by  a  revival  of  prosperity.  Business 
began  to  expand  as  soon  as  men  could  begin  to  depend 
on  the  future.  Uncertainty,  apprehension,  distrust, 
were  replaced  by  confidence  in  the  stability  of  social 
conditions.  Trade  among  the  states  was  no  longer  ham- 
pered by  vexatious  tariffs.  The  holders  of  questionable 
continental  scrip  suddenly  found  that  they  owned  sub- 
stantial wealth.  The  federal  taxes  flowed  in  with  regu- 
lar abundance,  and  the  interest  on  the  national  debt  was 


The   Organizatioyi  of  the  Nation.  115 

paid  with  punctuality.  The  federal  bank  provided  a  con- 
venient channel  for  interstate  exchanges  and  set  in  motion 
capital  which  it  gathered  in  masses.  The  great  wants  of 
the  country  had  been,  first  of  all,  assured  order,  and 
then  adequate  capital  for  the  development  of  its  vast 
material  resources.  The  federal  government  secured 
the  first,  and  Hamilton's  great  financial  system  made 
sure  of  the  second.  Manufactures  began  to  expand, 
and  commerce  redoubled  its  activity. 

Hamilton  had  done  more  than  any  other  one  man  to 
create  the  national  credit  and  so  to  awaken  orderly 
national  enterprise.  In  his  fourth  great  report,  that  on 
manufactures,  in  1 791,  he  set  out  an  elaborate  scheme 
for  governmental  protection  and  encouragement  to  in- 
dustry. Little  was  done  to  carry  out  these  ideas,  al- 
though the  existing  tariff  was  mildly  protective.  The 
principles  of  Hamilton  were  not  attempted  to  be  fully 
put  into  effect  until  after  the  second  war  with  England, 
when  Henry  Clay's  '* American  system"  became  a  car- 
dinal doctrine  of  a  new  political  party. 

But  meanwhile  it  became  evident  that  the  constitution 
meant  social  order,  that  social  order  opened  the  way  for 
profitable  industry,  and  that  the  development  of  every 
form  of  national  power  was  possible  as  soon  as  men 
could  hope  for  assured  returns  from  their  toil. 

In  other  words,  the  progress  of  civilization  is  impos- 
sible without  the  state.  And  the  state  is  human  society 
in  organic  form.  Under  the  Confederation  the  Ameri- 
can state  was  virtually  unorganized.  The  constitution 
provided  the  organization  of  the  American  nation. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


COMMERCE    AND    NEUTRALITY. 


References. — Schouler,     Vol.    I.  ;     McMaster, 
Shaler  :    The  United  States  of  America,  Vol.  I. 


Vol.    II. 


518. 


The  new  federal  government,  as  has  been  shown, 
worked  so  smoothly  and  efficiently  from  the  first  as  to 
inspire  immediate  confidence  in  the  stability  of  social  or- 
der, and  confidence  at  once  opened  the  way  to  activity  in 
all  lines  of  business.  Manufactures  rapidly  expanded. 
A  tide  of  immigration  set  in  toward  the  unsettled  lands  of 
the  West,  and  the  forests  beyond  the  Alleghenies  began 
to  yield  to  the  axe  of  the  settler.  The  quarrel  between 
New  York  and  New  Hampshire  for  the  Green  Mountain 
region  was  ended  by  the  admission  of  Vermont  to  the 
Union  as  a  fourteenth  state,  in  179 1.  In  1792  the  west- 
ern district  of  North  Carolina  was  admitted  as  the  state 
of  Tennessee,  and  in  1796,  in  like  manner,  the  western 
district  of  Virginia  became  the  state  of  Kentucky.  Thus 
the  eleven  states  which  formed  the  republic  when  Wash- 
ington was  inaugurated  in  1789  had  become  sixteen  when 
he  retired  from  the  presidency  in  1797. 

Shipbuilding,  the  fisheries,  and  ocean  commerce  had 
long  afforded  employment  to  the  people  of  the  New  Eng- 
land coast.  These  industries  picked  up  slowly  in  the 
few  years  after  the  Revolutionary  War,  but  with  1789 
they  began  to  expand  with  great  rapidity.  The  Tariff  and 
Tonnage  Acts  of  that  year  levied  lower  duties  on  goods 
imported   in  American  vessels,  laid  a  lower  tonnage  tax 

116 


Commerce  and  Neutrality.  1 1 7 


on  American  than  on  foreign  vessels,  and  made  a  further 
discrimination  in  favor  of  East  Indian  goods  imported  di- 
rectly from  the  country  in  which  they  were  produced,  as 
against  the  same  goods  imported  from  Europe.  Stimu- 
lated by  these  provisions  of  the  law,  by  the  assurance  of 
settled  social  conditions,  and  by  confidence  that  the  gen- 
eral government  would  now  afford  adequate  protection 
against  piracy  and  foreign  injustice,  foreign  commerce  be- 
came a  favorite  outlet  for  capital  and  industry.  Exports 
and  imports  increased  steadily,  and  soon  the  American 
flag  was  found  in  all  parts  of  the  world.  In  1789  less 
than  a  fourth  of  our  ocean  traffic  was  in  American  vessels, 
while  in  1793  less  than  a  fourth  was  in  vessels  not  Ameri- 
can. The  East  India  voyage  especially  became  popular  The  East  in( 
with  our  merchants.  English  law  at  this  time  debarred 
from  that  trade  any  English  vessels  except  those  of  the 
East  India  Company,  while,  as  has  just  been  shown,  the 
American  law  offered  inducements  to  all  our  merchants. 
''The  result  was  that  Massachusetts  merchants,  who 
already  had  some  forty  vessels  employed  in  the  trade,  J-^R- 
rapidly  enlarged  their  ventures,  and  laid  the  foundation 
of  those  great  fortunes  which  constitute  the  origin  of  the 
wealth  of  so  many  of  the  older  New  England  families. 
These  merchants  shipped  cargoes  sometimes  directly  to 
the  East,  sometimes  to  intermediate  ports,  to  be  replaced 
by  other  cargoes  of  suitable  character,  and  brought  back 
for  the  use  of  their  countrymen  immense  quantities  of 
tea,  spices,  sugar,  coffee,  silks,  nankeen,  and  other 
cloths — all  of  them  articles  of  great  value  in  proportion  to 
their  bulk,  and  therefore  yielding  heavy  profits  in  the 
carrying  trade  ;  and  whatever  did  not  find  a  market  at 
home  was  reshipped  from  New  England  ports  and  sold 
at  Hamburg  or  other  commercial  centers  of  Northern 
Europe.     It  may  be  said  that  the  marked  commercial 


1 1 8  The  Growth  of  the  Americmi  Nation. 


The  wars  of 
the  French 
Revolution. 


America  con- 
cerned. 


feature  of  the  period  was  the  development  of  this  trade. 
It  was  the  era  of  which  Hawthorne  speaks  in  his  famous 
description  of  the  custom-house,  in  the  introduction  to 
'  The  Scarlet  Letter, '  where  he  calls  up  '  the  image  of  the 
old  town's  brighter  aspect,  when  India  was  a  new  re- 
gion, and  only  Salem  knew  the  way  thither. '  ' ' 

The  development  of  this  feature  of  our  national  life,  as 
well  as  the  course  of  our  political  history,  was  powerfully 
affected  by  the  outbreak  of  the  French  revolutionary 
wars  in  1792. 

When  the  States- General  met  at  Versailles  the  week 
after  Washington  was  inaugurated,  in  1789,  all  America 
looked  on  with  interest.  When  the  States-General  be- 
came the  National  Assembly,  and  France  seemed  on  the 
way  to  peaceful  reform  of  her  despotic  and  feudal  insti- 
tutions, American  interest  became  warm  sympathy.  But 
the  Revolution  moved  on  beyond  control.  Thrones 
were  in  danger.  France  was  attacked  by  Germany  in 
the  interest  of  the  divine  right  of  kings.  And  in  1793 
France  and  England  were  again  at  war.  This  proved  to 
be  a  war  of  giants.  In  the  end  all  Europe  was  involved, 
and  the  struggle  raged  for  nearly  twenty-five  years,  with 
only  the  brief  interval  of  a  single  year  after  the  peace  of 
Amiens  in  1802. 

In  this  turmoil  of  passions  the  United  States  could  not 
help  being  involved.  The  principles  at  issue  were  not 
national  but  social,  and  so  enlisted  the  hottest  ardor  of 
America,  as  well  as  Europe,  in  opposing  factions.  Our 
growing  ocean  commerce  was  with  the  various  belliger- 
ents, and  so  inevitably  led  to  many  entanglements, 
especially  with  France  and  England.  And  through 
these  entanglements  we  were  with  the  greatest  difficulty 
kept  for  many  years  from  being  dragged  into  actual  war 
on  one  side  or  the  other.     We  did  come  to  blows  with 


Coi7i7nerce  and  Neidrality.  119 


Commerce 
stimulated. 


France  in  the  last  years  of  the  century,  although  the 
matter  was  patched  up.  And  at  last,  goaded  beyond 
further  endurance  by  the  Insults  and  wrongs  of  England, 
we  yielded  to  the  maelstrom  in  181 2  and  did  what  for 
a  generation  the  whole  world  had  been  doing — we  went 
to  war. 

One  of  the  first  effects  of  the  war  between  France  and 
England  was  still  further  to  stimulate  American  com- 
merce. The  British  navy  swept  French  traders  from  the 
seas,  and  French  privateers  made  ocean  voyages  danger- 
ous for  British  merchantmen.  But  each  nation  wanted 
the  provisions  and  stores  which  could  only  come  from 
over  the  seas,  and  so  the  American  neutral  flag  acquired 
almost  a  monopoly  of  the  carrying  trade.  Under  the 
old  colonial  system  the  French  had  confined  commerce 
with  their  colonies  to  French  ships.  But  when  French 
ships  could  no  longer  sail  in  safety,  the  French  govern- 
ment threw  open  its  ports  to  American  shipping,  and 
the  sugar  of  San  Domingo,  the  coffee  and  hides  of  South 
America,  were  thus  carried  securely  to  France.  And  of 
course  American  provisions  and  marine  stores  met  a 
ready  and  growing  market  in  European  ports. 

But  the  turmoil  in  Europe  led  to  a  great  emigration,  immigration. 
French  refugees  from  San  Domingo,  and  from  the  Old 
World,  Irish  and  Scotch  and  English  and  Germans, 
eagerly  took  refuge  in  a  land  which  seemed  dedicated  to 
liberty  and  in  which  it  seemed  possible  for  every  one  to 
prosper.  There  were  no  kings,  no  privileged  nobles,  no 
entailed  estates.  Land  could  be  had  in  fee  simple,  there 
was  room  for  all,  and  the  liberal  naturalization  laws  of 
the  First  Congress  made  it  possible  for  the  immigrant 
soon  to  be  a  citizen. 

News  of  war  between  France  and  England  reached 
America  soon  after  Washington's  second  inauguration. 


1 20  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


France  and 
England  at  war, 
1793. 


in  the  spring  of  1793.  With  the  previous  phases  of  the 
war,  in  which  Germans  were  the  enemies  of  France,  the 
United  States  had  no  immediate  concern.  But  a  col- 
Hsion  between  France  and  England  meant  war  on  the 
seas  and  in  the  colonies,  and  between  nations  with  which 
Americans  were  closely  involved  in  commerce.  More- 
over, the  treaty  with  France  made  in  1778  was  still 
in  force,  and  gave  that  nation  some  special  privileges. 
The  course  to  be  taken  by  the  federal  government  there- 
fore became  matter  of  grave  concern.  Washington  was 
at  Mount  Vernon.  Hastening  at  once  to  Philadelphia, 
he  called  a  conference  of  the  heads  of  departments  (the 
first  cabinet  meeting)  and  sought  their  advice.  It  was 
agreed  to  issue  a  proclamation  taking  the  ground  of 
complete  neutrality,  and  forbidding  American  citizens  to 
give  aid  to  either  party. 

This  was  beyond  doubt  the  only  wise  policy  for  the 
American  Republic.  But  it  was  very  distasteful  to 
many  of  the  people,  who  remembered  with  gratitude  the 
aid  given  by  France  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  who 
sympathized  warmly  with  the  French  republican  cause, 
and  who  were  by  no  means  yet  attached  to  England. 
This  dissatisfaction  was  fanned  into  a  flame  by  the  new 
French  minister.  Genet,  who  landed  at  Charleston  with 
his  pocket  full  of  blank  letters  of  marque  and  commis- 
sions in  the  French  service.  These  he  used  generously, 
and  soon  had  a  number  of  privateers  fitted  out  in  Ameri- 
can ports  and  capturing  British  merchant  ships  along  the 
American  coast.  Such  an  audacious  violation  of  the 
sovereignty  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  respect  due 
to  a  nation  with  which  we  were  at  peace  of  course  could 
not  be  allowed,  and  so  the  administration  called  Genet 
sharply  to  account,  and  compelled  a  restitution  of  the 
illegal  prizes.     The  choleric  Frenchman  took  this  in  high 


Commerce  and  Neutrality.  121 

dudgeon.     And  at  first  he  was  encouraged   by  public 
sentiment.      There  was  a  deal  of  frothy  enthusiasm  for  T^^  democi 

•^  ferment  in 

French  republican  ideas.  ' '  The  rights  of  man  ' '  were  America. 
the  theme  of  fervid  oratory.  Democratic  clubs,  in  imita- 
tion of  the  Jacobin  Club  of  Paris,  sprang  up  like  mush- 
rooms, and  at  their  banquets  the  strains  of  "^a  ira" 
and  ' '  Yankee  Doodle ' '  alternated,  while  the  stars  and 
stripes  were  intertwined  with  the  tricolor.  These  fer- 
vent Democrats,  as  they  began  to  call  themselves  in  '93, 
at  first  felt  aggrieved  that  Washington  had  not  received 
Genet  with  open  arms,  and  that  the  American  Republic 
had  not  joined  the  French  Republic  in  a  crusade  against 
the  world.  But  when  Genet  insulted  the  administration 
the  popular  fervor  cooled.  And  when  the  Frenchman, 
deluded  with  the  idea  that  the  people  were  with  him, 
threatened  to  appeal  from  the  American  president  to  the 
American  nation,  the  tide  of  feeling  turned  quite  against 
him,  and  there  was  general  approval  of  the  president's 
demand  on  the  French  government  to  recall  its  impu- 
dent envoy.  The  demand  was  heeded.  But  Genet 
fully  understood  the  fate  of  a  disgraced  servant  of  the 
French  RepubHc,  and  was  aware  that  in  Paris  his  head 
would  be  in  danger.  As,  on  the  whole,  he  preferred  to 
retain  his  head,  but  had  no  such  exclusive  policy  as  to 
the  disposal  of  his  heart,  he  settled  the  matter  by  re- 
maining in  this  country  and  marrying  the  daughter  of 
Governor  George  Clinton,  of  New  York. 

Thus  for  the  present  Washington's  firm  policy  kept 
the  nation  from  being  dragged  into  war  with  England. 
But  there  were  many  vexatious  matters  affecting  our  rela- 
tions with  that  country.  As  the  American  agreements 
under  the  treaty  of  1783  had  not  all  been  fulfilled,  the 
British  yet  retained  certain  forts  in  the  western  part  of 
the  United   States.     There  was   as    yet   no    commercial 


The  neutral 


122  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 

treaty.  And,  above  all,  the  British  claim  of  belligerent 
rights  in  the  war  with  France  was  a  serious  annoyance  to 
our  growing  commerce. 

As  has  been  said,  when  hostilities  broke  out  France 
fl^s-  opened  all  her  ports  to  commerce,  and  the  carrying  trade 

between  French  colonies  and  French  seaports  soon  was 
transferred  almost  wholly  to  American  shipping.  But 
England  insisted  on  the  right  to  capture  French  property 
on  the  high  seas  wherever  found,  and  so  took  it  from 
American  ships.  Further,  England  declared  food  to  be 
contraband  of  war.  The  exports  from  the  United  States 
consisted  largely  in  provisions.  While  England  did  not 
make  prize  of  ships  bound  for  France  with  such  cargoes, 
she  insisted  that  they  should  be  unloaded  in  British  ports, 
where  the  cargo  was  duly  paid  for.  Then  the  governors 
of  petty  West  India  islands  were  made  admiralty  judges. 
They  were  ignorant  men,  and  were  paid  for  judicial  work 
by  fees  from  condemned  ships.  And  presently  it  ap- 
peared that  almost  every  American  ship  charged  with  ex- 
ceeding the  rights  of  neutrals  was  quite  sure  to  be  con- 
demned. Another  grievance  was  the  English  practice  of 
stopping  American  merchantmen  and  taking  from  their 
crew  any  British  subjects  who  might  be  found,  for  service 
in  the  royal  navy.  And  it  was  not  always  easy  to  tell 
an  Englishman  from  an  American,  so  after  a  while  it 
came  to  be  the  practice  of  British  naval  officers  to  claim 
any  likely  sailor  as  an  Englishman. 

These  accumulated  outrages  reawakened  the  revolu- 
tionary animosity  against   Great  Britain.      In  the  spring 
Embargo.  of  1 794  Cougrcss  laid  an  embargo  on  shipping  for  sixty 

days.  Non-intercourse  with  England  was  proposed,  and 
for  a  time  war  seemed  inevitable. 

It  was  Washington's  anxious  desire  to  maintain  peace, 
and  he  determined  to  send  to  England  a  special  envoy 


Impressment  of 
seamen. 


Co?mnerce  and  Neutrality.  123 


to  negotiate  a  treaty.  For  this  important  mission  the 
chief  justice,  John  Jay,  was  selected.  The  treaty  which  'r^'e  Jay  treaty. 
he  brought  back  from  over  the  water  was  perhaps  the 
best  that  could  be  obtained.  It  certainly  was  giving  sub- 
stantial commercial  privileges  for  very  shadowy  English 
concessions.  Washington  was  dissatisfied.  Hamilton 
called  it  "an  old  woman's  treaty."  But  both  felt  that  it 
was  better  than  war,  and  urged  the  Senate  to  ratify. 
When  the  treaty  was  made  public,  however,  there  was 
an  outburst  of  popular  wrath.  In  public  meetings,  in 
the  press,  and  in  Congress,  the  opposition  was  bitter  and 
determined.  But  the  president's  wise  judgment  pre- 
vailed, and  the  treaty  was  duly  ratified  and  signed. 

Thus  for  the  second  time  the  wisdom  of  Washington 
prevented  a  war  with  England.  And  any  war  would 
have  been  eminently  dangerous  to  the  imperfectly 
welded  republic. 

But  the  angry  disputes  over  Jay's  treaty  tended  still   p^^.^  dissen- 
further  to  widen  a  cleavage  of  the  people  into  national   ^'°"^- 
political  parties,  which  had  begun  to  appear  in  the  First 
Congress.      After  the  Revolutionary  War  there  had  been 
no  burning  question  common  to  all  the  states  until  the 
draft  of  the  federal  constitution  was  made  public  in  1787. 
At  that  time  there  ensued  a  bitter  contest  at  the  polls 
and  in  the   several    conventions,   and  the  division   into 
Federalists    and  Anti-Federalists    was    sharply    defined.    .^,^^  ^^^.^ 
Of  course,    with  the   adoption   of  the    constitution    the   Federalists. 
Anti- Federalists    had    no    reason    for  further   organized 
action,   and  quite  naturally  the  new    congressmen   and 
senators  were  generally  Federalists. 

But  the  funding  schemes  of  Hamilton,  and  especially   Hamilton's 
the  assumption  of  state  debts,  developed  a  warm  antag-   financial  plans. 
onism,  which  was  made  stronger  by  the  excise  and  the 
bank.      The   centralizing   tendency    of  these  measures 


124 


The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


was  clearly  seen,  and  those  who  had  dreaded  the  con- 
stitution as  an  abandonment  of  state  rights,  together 
with  those  who  had  accepted  the  plan  of  government 
without  desiring  to  weaken  the  states,  united  in 
opposition. 

When  Washington  was  in  doubt  as  to  the  constitution- 
ality of  the  bank  bill,  he  sought  advice  both  from  Ham- 
ilton and  from  Jefferson.  The  former  in  his  written  an- 
swer developed  the  doctrine  of  implied  powers,  which  of 
course  was  calculated  to  extend  enormously  the  scope  of 
the  central  government.  Jefferson,  having  consulted 
with  Madison,  insisted  on  the  doctrine  of  strict  con- 
struction, and  held  that  the  power  to  charter  a  bank 
was  nowhere  given  in  the  constitution.  These  papers 
formulated  a  theory  of  government  for  the  parties  which 
were  now  fast  taking  shape. 

Jefferson  came  back  from  France  in  1789  filled  with 
the  ultra-democratic  ideas  of  the  Jacobin  Clubs,  and  on 
assuming  charge  of  the  department  of  state  found  him- 
self surrounded  by  stanch  Federalists  who  had  no  sym- 
pathy with  democracy.  The  secretary  was  suspicious 
by  nature,  and  he  soon  became  convinced  that  the  dom- 
inant politicians  were  aiming  to  convert  the  republic 
into  a  monarchy.  Being  himself  an  astute  and  am- 
bitious politician,  as  well  as  a  fiery  Democrat,  he  set  out 
to  organize  a  following  out  of  the  promising  elements  at 
hand.  In  doing  this  he  was  not  oversensitive  to  consid- 
erations of  delicacy.  Hamilton  soon  found  that  his  pol- 
icy for  his  own  department  was  steadily  opposed  by  his 
colleague  in  the  department  of  state.  And  not  content 
with  introducing  faction  in  the  cabinet,  Jefferson  aided 
in  the  establishment  of  a  newspaper  in  the  interest  of  his 
faction  by  appointing  the  editor,  Freneau,  to  a  clerkship 
in  the  state   department.      The   columns  of  Freneau' s 


Comvicrce  and  Neutrality.  125 

paper  soon  were  filled  with  attacks  on  the  policy  of  the   Preneau-s 
administration,  and  with  venomous  personalities  aimed  at   ^^^^"^• 
Hamilton  and  in  the  end  even  at  Washington  himself. 

The  beginning  of  the  French  revolutionary  wars  added 
new  fuel  to  the  kindling  flame  of  faction.  The  party  of 
Jefferson  was  enthusiastically  French — lauded  the  Jaco- 
bins to  the  skies,  went  wild  over  the  "  rights  of  man," 
and  hated  England  as  the  sworn  enemy  of  liberty.  On  ^  French  party 
the  other  hand,  the  Federalists  looked  on  the  upheaval  ^^f,^"^  ^"^''^^ 
in  France  as  little  better  than  an  outbreak  of  anarchy. 
They  felt  that  after  all  England  was  fighting  for  social  or- 
der. And  they  saw  that  American  commercial  interests 
were  closely  interwoven  with  those  of  England.  Many 
of  the  more  fiery  Democrats  would  have  welcomed  a 
hearty  alliance  with  France  in  her  republican  wars,  but  the 
administration  and  the  cooler  heads  in  all  the  states  held 
firmly  to  neutrality  as  the  only  safe  policy.  But  this  in- 
trusion of  foreign  politics  into  our  domestic  dissensions 
was  most  pernicious  and  far  reaching.  To  our  shame  be 
it  said  that  there  were  a  "French  party"  and  an  "  Eng- 
lish party  "  in  the  United  States  until  the  mortal  struggle 
between  those  nations  ended  on  the  field  of  Waterloo. 

Washington  had  consented  reluctantly  in  1792  to  a 
reelection.  His  second  term  was  stormy  and  difficult.  J^t^res"^^" 
The  European  war,  the  treaty  with  England,  the  rapid 
development  of  the  opposition  party,  and  the  scurrilous 
abuse  to  which  the  administration  was  subjected,  com- 
bined to  render  the  president's  position  far  from  an  easy 
one.  Jefferson  retired  from  the  cabinet  at  the  end  of 
1793,  and  Hamilton  about  a  year  later.  The  abuse  of  the 
small  politicians  was  not  a  reflection  of  the  public  mind, 
and  Washington  might  easily  have  been  chosen  for  a 
third  term,  but  he  had  finally  decided  to  retire  to  his 
longed-for  repose  at    Mount  Vernon,   and  so    declined 


126  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


another  election.  His  farewell  address  to  the  American 
people  was  an  earnest  warning  against  the  evils  and 
dangers  which  seemed  to  be  rising  around  the  republic. 

The  Federalists  selected  the  vice-president,  John 
Adams,  as  their  candidate  for  president,  and  Thomas 
Pinckney,  of  Maryland,  for  the  second  place,  while  the 
opposition  bent  all  their  efforts  to  the  election  of  Jeffer- 
son to  the  presidency.  By  the  constitution,  as  it  then 
stood,  the  electors  voted  for  two  candidates  without 
designating  the  office.  The  one  who  had  a  majority 
of  the  votes  was  to  be  president,  and  the  next  on  the 
list  was  to  be  vice-president.  In  this  clumsy  way  it 
turned  out  that  Adams  was  elected  president  and  Jeffer- 
son vice-president.  And  in  each  branch  of  Congress 
there  was  a  majority  favorable  to  the  Federalist  president. 

The  two  administrations  of  George  Washington  had 
sufficed  to  organize  the  federal  government  on  a  firm 
basis.  The  public  debt  had  been  funded  in  such  way  as 
to  secure  the  prompt  payment  of  interest  and  the  ulti- 
mate extinction  of  the  principal.  The  federal  revenue 
was  ample,  and  the  national  credit,  under  the  Confedera- 
tion utterly  worthless,  was  now  raised  to  universal  re- 
spect. The  policy  of  neutrality  had  sufificed  to  keep 
America  from  entanglement  with  the  great  European 
war,  while  at  the  same  time  it  contained  the  essential 
principles  which  have  since  come  to  be  known  as  the 
' '  Monroe  Doctrine. ' '  The  operation  of  the  govern- 
ment had  from  the  first  been  so  orderly  and  successful 
as  to  give  universal  confidence  to  mercantile  undertak- 
ings. Manufactures  and  commerce  were  expanding  on 
all  sides.  Population  was  steadily  increasing.  The  na- 
tion had  begun  its  growth.  To  Washington  the  presi- 
dent we  owe  even  more  than  to  Washington  the  revo- 
lutionary general. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FEDERALIST    IDEAS. 

References. — Schouler,  Vol.  I.  ;  McMaster,  Vol.  II.  ; 
Weeden  :  Economic  and  Social  History  of  New  England ; 
Dorchester  :   Christianity  in  the  United  States. 

Washington,  in  his  farewell  address,  warned  the 
people  in  the  most  solemn  manner  '*to  beware  of  the 
baneful  effect  of  party  spirit."  Himself  inspired  by  the 
most  profound  regard  for  the  whole  republic,  he  felt 
acutely  the  dissensions  which  had  embittered  his  official 
life  as  president,  and  foreboded  grave  evils  from  their 
continuance.  He  did  not  realize  that  party  government 
was  inevitable  in  a  republic.  And  the  administration  of 
Adams  was  only  avowedly  what  his  predecessor's  had 
been  in  fact — an  administration  by  the  Federalist  party. 

To  comprehend  the  Federalist  way  of  thinking,  it  is    ^ 
necessary  to  remember  that  society  at  the  end   of  the  society 

ciristocr3,tic 

eighteenth  century  was  passing  through  a  transforma- 
tion which  it  was  not  easy  to  understand  at  the  time. 
Democracy,  in  the  modern  sense,  had  not  been  a  colonial 
idea.  Both  socially  and  politically  there  was  a  real  aris- 
tocracy. In  New  England  there  were  not  wide  diver- 
gences in  wealth,  for  there  were  none  very  rich  and  few 
very  poor.  Yet  distinctions  of  birth,  of  official  position, 
and  of  property  were  sharply  maintained.  From  an  early 
period  many  of  the  churches  assigned  pews  according  to 
a  carefully  graded  social  rank.  It  was  not  until  1768  that 
Yale  College  ceased  to  arrange  students  in  its  annual  cat- 
alogue in  the  order  of  the  social  standing  of  the  parents,    278-280. 


See  p. 


Weeden,  I, 


128 


The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


See  p.  64. 

Weed  en,  I. 

739- 


Washington's 
"  republican 
court." 


and  Harvard  followed  the  same  custom,  as  has  been  seen, 
until  1773.  The  tide  was  moving  toward  democracy,  and 
after  the  Revolution  many  aristocratic  customs  had  dis- 
appeared. But  there  remained  a  powerful  class  which 
was  keenly  conscious  of  its  own  superiority.  In  New 
York  there  was  a  landed  baronage  which  held  a  feudal 
position.  And  in  the  South  the  gentry  lived  on  their 
wide  plantations  in  the  manner  and  imbued  with  the  no- 
tions of  the  English  country  gentleman.  Equality  of  po- 
litical rights  was  no  more  the  rule  than  was  equality  of 
social  rank.  Suffrage  and  eligibility  to  office  in  many  of 
the  states  were  limited  to  property  owners,  or  to  certain 
denominations  of  Christians.  Negro  slaves  were  held  in 
nearly  all  the  states,  and  even  in  New  England  the 
churches  provided  separate  pews  for  the  blacks.  There 
were  many  people  who  disliked  slavery,  but  in  the  ex- 
treme South  it  was  held  to  be  necessary,  and  after  Eli 
Whitney  invented  the  cotton-gin,  in  1793,  the  demand  for 
negro  labor  in  the  cotton  fields  was  so  greatly  increased 
that  all  the  Southern  States  found  slavery  profitable. 
And  slave  communities  tend  to  perpetuate  ideas  of  caste. 
The  drift  of  the  Revolution  was  to  unsettle  class  dis- 
tinctions, especially  as  the  Tories  were  more  numerous 
among  the  "  upper  ten."  But,  on  the  other  hand,  many 
of  the  revolutionary  leaders  were  far  from  being  demo- 
crats. Washington  was  a  thorough  aristocrat.  He  in- 
sisted that  his  officers  should  be  gentlemen,  and  his  de- 
meanor was  always  reserved  and  stately.  When  he  be- 
came president  he  had  a  high  idea  of  the  dignity  of  his 
office,  and  supported  it  with  somewhat  elaborate  cere- 
mony. He  appeared  in  the  streets  of  New  York  on  im- 
portant occasions  in  a  hemispherical,  canary-colored 
coach,  drawn  by  four  or  six  horses.  His  receptions  were 
very  formal,  and,  notwithstanding  that  no  titles  of  nobil- 


Federalist  Ideas.  129 


ity  existed,  the  president's  wife  was  quite  commonly 
called  "  Lady  Washington."  The  confusion  of  the  Con- 
federation convinced  many  people  that  more  of  form 
and  order  was  sadly  needed  in  society  as  well  as  in  poli- 
tics. The  leading  Federalists  believed  that  public  affairs 
should  be  in  the  hands  of  the  educated  and  wealthy  few. 
They  distrusted  the  masses.  Hamilton  did  not  conceal 
his  scorn  for  democracy,  and  Adams's  phrase,  "the 
well  born,"  in  one  of  his  books,  became  a  by-word. 

It  ought  not  to  be  forgotten  that  a  republic  on  any- 
thing like  a  democratic  basis  was  a  novel  thing.  The 
examples  of  antiquity  were  remote.  But  it  was  not  for- 
gotten that  the  Greek  and  Roman  Republics  had  fallen. 
The  Dutch  Republic  was  very  aristocratic,  and  its  stadt- 
holder  was  really  a  king.  The  Swiss  Confederation  could 
hardly  be  a  pattern  for  America.  It  was  not  easy  for 
men  to  believe  that  any  government  other  than  mon- 
archical was  likely  to  be  permanent.  And  the  Federalists 
were  of  the  opinion  that  the  freest  and  best  form  of  gov- 
ernment in  the  world  was  that  of  Great  Britain,  and  this 
they  were  inclined  to  copy,  as  far  as  circumstances  would 
allow.  It  is  not  at  all  probable  that  there  was  ever 
among  the  Federalists  a  plan  to  create  a  monarchy. 
Jefferson  was  sure  that  such  a  conspiracy  was  brewing, 
and  every  chance  word  dropped  at  the  table  or  in  private 
conversation  was  to  him  added  confirmation.  But  while 
in  this  his  imaginative  and  suspicious  temperament  un- 
doubtedly led  him  into  error,  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
Federalists  did  want  a  strong  and  dignified  government. 
Those  who  had  been  in  the  Federal  Convention  of  1787 
remembered  that  Hamilton  there  suggested  a  plan  which 
embraced  such  features  as  life  tenure  for  the  president  emment,  1787. 
and  Senate,  the  appointment  of  state  governors  by  the 
central  government,  and  a  federal  veto  on  all  state  legis- 


I30 


The   Groivth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Federalist 
doctrines. 

See  p.  io6. 


The  New  Eng- 
land clergy. 


Religious  and 
moral  ferment. 


lation.  The  tendency  of  the  financial  measures  adopted 
by  the  First  Congress  was  undoubtedly  to  enhance  the 
power  of  the  federal  government  very  greatly.  The 
Federalists  adopted  Hamilton's  view  of  the  constitution 
as  being  a  document  which  should  be  construed  loosely 
and  in  such  sense  as  to  give  the  central  government 
virtually  all  powers  not  explicitly  forbidden  it.  It  was 
also  a  Federalist  theory  of  political  science  that  it  was  a 
function  of  government  to  aid  and  encourage  the  in- 
dustry of  the  people.  It  was  to  this  end  that  the  pro- 
tective features  were  embodied  in  the  tariff  of  1789,  and 
this  was  a  prominent  purpose  in  the  formation  of  the 
United  States  Bank.  The  Federalists,  too,  believed  in 
a  strong  army  and  navy,  and  would  have  the  United 
States  felt  in  international  affairs.  The  policy  later  called 
the  "  Monroe  Doctrine,"  as  has  been  shown,  was  really 
initiated  by  the  Federalist  administrations. 

A  powerful  element  of  Federalism  was  the  New  Eng- 
land clergy.  It  will  be  remembered  that  until  the  nine- 
teenth century  was  well  on  its  way  the  Congregational 
Church  was  established  by  law  in  Massachusetts  and  Con- 
necticut. The  clergy  had  from  the  first  been  leaders  and 
almost  autocrats  in  New  England  society.  They  now 
saw  dangerous  ideas  and  practices  rife.  That  intellectual 
unrest  was  already  evident  which  a  few  years  later  was 
to  result  in  the  great  upheaval  in  Puritan  Congregation- 
alism, which  made  Unitarian  institutions  of  the  church 
of  the  Pilgrims  at  Plymouth  and  of  Harvard  College  at 
Cambridge.  The  wars  and  the  French  alliance  had 
brought  in  a  flood  of  infidelity  and  atheism.  Morals 
were  at  a  low  ebb.  Indeed,  no  period  in  our  history 
shows  more  utter  social  demoralization  than  the  last  dec- 
ade of  the  eighteenth  century.  And  the  clergy  instinct- 
ively turned  to  the  Federalist  party,  the  party  of  strong 


Federalist  Ideas.  131 


government,  for  that  tonic  which  seemed  to  be  needed 
ahke  for  lax  morals  and  for  lax  theology. 

But   French  enmity  to  religion  was  if  anything  less   j^readof 
dreadful  to  sober  minds  than  were  the  political  ideas  of  F^'epch  poiui- 

^  cal  ideas. 

French  Jacobinism.  The  "  rights  of  man  "  were  prated 
as  glibly  in  the  democratic  clubs  of  New  York  and  Phila- 
delphia as  in  the  streets  of  Paris.  And  the  Federalists 
were  satisfied  that  an  American  reign  of  terror  was  im- 
pending— that  property,  the  family,  morals,  were  in 
serious  danger.  In  short,  there  was  the  same  dread  of 
the  new  ideas  of  democracy  which  we  are  apt  to  feel  to- 
day of  the  anarchists. 

Macaulay  points  out  that  the  bulk  of  a  nation  is  often  ^^e  Federalists 
relatively  indifferent  as  between  two  eager  factions,  and  Uf^ority. 
hence  that  a  positive  minority  may  often  triumph  by 
sheer  audacity.  The  masses  follow  success.  It  seems 
quite  probable  that  this  was  the  case  in  the  early  part  of 
the  Revolutionary  War.  Separatists  in  1775  were  as 
decided  a  minority  as  were  thick-and-thin  loyalists.  And 
it  is  not  likely  that  out-and-out  Federalists  were  ever 
a  real  majority  of  our  people.  So  long  as  their  admin- 
istration of  affairs  was  brilliantly  successful,  and  so  long- 
as  they  avoided  alarming  the  really  democratic  ideas  of 
the  masses,  the  Federalists  kept  their  hold  on  political 
power. 

John  Adams  was  an  able  and  scrupulously  honorable  ^^^  Adams 
man,  with  high  ideas  of  national  dignity.  He  was  ex- 
ceedingly vain,  inordinately  fussy,  and  irascible  to  a  de- 
gree. With  this  mixture  of  strong  and  weak  qualities 
he  was  admirably  qualified  to  administer  the  government 
with  vigor  and  to  throw  political  parties  into  a  turmoil. 
The  real  leader  of  the  Federalists  was  Hamilton.  And 
with  Hamilton  the  new  president  already  had  a  thriving 
quarrel.     It  was  owing  to  the  machinations  of  the  former 


132  The   G7^owth  of  the  American  Natio7i. 


Trouble  with 
France. 


Dissatisfaction 
at  American 
ingratitude. 


Hostile 
measures. 


that  Adams  had  so  small  a  vote  in  the  electoral  colleges 
of  1789 — a  fact  which  he  bitterly  resented.  And  the 
same  influence  disturbed  the  election  of  1797. 

The  new  administration  was  confronted  at  once  with  a 
grave  difficulty  in  foreign  aflairs.  France  had  felt  pro- 
foundly dissatis- 
fied that  the 
United  States 
had  shown  such 
ingratitude  for 
French  aid  in  the 
Revolutionary 
War  and  such 
disregard  for  the 
treaty  of  alliance 
made  in  1778  as 
not  to  join  frankly 
in  the  war  against 
England.  But 
this  dissatisfac- 
tion was  fanned 
into  rage  when 
the  Jay  treaty  be- 

John  Adams.  came      kuowU. 

Born,  1735  ;  died,  1826.     Graduated  at  Harvard,  1755  ; 
lawyer;  member  of  Continental  Congress;  signer  of    ThlS,     the    DirCC- 
Declaration    of  Independence;     commissioner    to 

France;  with  Franklin  and  Jay  negotiated  treaty  of    tory    held,     made 
peace  in  1783;   minister  to  England,  1785-8;  vice- 

president,  1789-97;  president  of  the  United  States,    the    Americans 
1 797-1801. 

virtually  allies  of 
England.  Accordingly  the  French  government  refused 
to  receive  the  new  minister,  C.  C.  Pinckney,  who  had 
been  sent  to  Paris  to  succeed  Monroe.  And  French 
cruisers  began  to  seize  American  merchant  ships  on  all 
manner  of  pretexts. 

The    administration    desired  an   amicable  settlement. 


Federalist  Ideas.  133 


and  sent  a  special  mission  to    Paris  for  that   purpose,    ^^cS?  mission 
Gerry  and  Marshall  being  joined  with  Pinckney.      But 
in  lieu  of  an  honorable  reception  the  Americans  were 
kept  waiting  on  one  pretext  and  another,  and  presently 
were  notified  in  a  roundabout  way  that  if  America  de- 
sired a  treaty  with  France  an  indispensable  preliminary   The  Directory 
would  be  a  loan  for  the  republic  and  a  private  bribe  of  bribe. 
nearly  a  quarter  of  a  million  dollars  for  the  members  of 
the   Directory.       This    precious   communication    came 
from  Talleyrand.     Its  terms  were  abruptly  rejected,  and 
notification  was  immediately  made  to  President  Adams. 

When  the  president  laid  the  dispatches  before  Con-   The  x  y  z 

-  .  -  .^      •      1-  •  -IT-  dispatches. 

gress,  m  the  sprmg  01  1798,  mdignation  with  r  ranee 
was  hot.*  The  vigorous  measures  recommended  by  the 
administration  were  promptly  voted.  Public  feeling,  too, 
ran  high.  "Millions  for  defense,  not  one  cent  for 
tribute,"  was  the  cry.  The  Federalist  black  cockade 
appeared  everywhere,  and  the  French  party  seemed 
thoroughly  discredited.  Provision  was  made  for  an 
army,  and  Washington  was  called  from  his  retirement  to 
assume  its  command.  The  navy  department  was  organ- 
ized.  In  1794,  when  trouble  with  the  Barbary  pirates  partment,  1798. 
seemed  at  hand,  Congress  had  authorized  the  building 
of  six  frigates.  Three  of  these,  the  Constitution,  Con- 
stellatioji,  and  United  States,  were  now  ready,  and  the 
president  was  authorized  to  add  a  number  of  small  ves- 
sels. This  little  squadron  was  sent  to  the  West  Indies 
with  instructions  to  protect  American  commerce.  It 
was  done  most  efficiently,  and  in  several  gallant  actions 
the  new  navy  began  to  win  that  renown  which  the  war 
with  Tripoli  and  the  second  war  with  England  were 
afterwards  to  make  imperishable. 


*  President  Adams  did  not  give  the  names  of   Talleyrand's  go-betweens,  but 
indicated  them  bv  the  letters  X  Y  Z. 


134 


The   Growth  of  the  American  A^ation. 


Hamilton's 
plans  for  the 
war. 


Talleyrand  is 
alarmed  and 
yields. 


The  new 
mission,  1799. 

Convention  of 
1800  settles  the 
trouble  with 
France. 


Hamilton  had  been  made  second  in  command  of  the 
army,  and  his  military  plans  were  far  reaching.  He 
proposed  to  attack  Spain,  the  ally  of  France,  and  to 
take  from  her  Florida  and  Louisiana  ;  then  to  make  con- 
quests from  the  Spanish  provinces  in  Mexico,  and,  as 
Hamilton  wrote,  to  "squint  toward  South  America." 
Had  formal  war  resulted  and  these  plans  been  carried 
out,  history  would  have  been  anticipated  in  a  very  curious 
way.  We  have,  in  fact,  acquired  Florida,  Louisiana, 
and  a  large  portion  of  Mexico.  But  the  last  annexation 
in  the  South  was  made  when  Hamilton  had  been  in  his 
grave  for  fifty  years. 

The  publication  of  the  X  Y  Z  dispatches  in  America 
of  course  made  it  necessary  that  their  contents  should  be 
known  in  Europe.  Talleyrand  was  disconcerted,  but 
with  his  usual  brazen  assurance  he  disavowed  the  acts  of 
his  agents.  The  unexpected  spirit  shown  by  the  Ameri- 
cans made  him  uneasy,  too,  and  he  let  it  be  known  that 
he  would  give  an  honorable  reception  to  a  new  embassy. 
Adams's  cabinet,  together  with  Hamilton,  whom  they 
were  more  apt  to  consult  than  the  president,  were  strongly 
opposed  to  making  any  more  adv^ances.  But  Adams 
concluded  that  he  was  the  president  and  abruptly  de- 
cided that  he  would  send  envoys  without  regard  to  the 
views  of  the  cabinet.  Accordingly  three  commissioners 
were  sent,  in  1799.  And  in  the  following  year  they  suc- 
ceeded in  making  a  convention  with  France  which  set- 
tled all  the  matters  in  dispute.  The  old  treaty  of  1778, 
with  all  its  inconvenient  clauses,  was  abrogated. 

Both  Washington  and  Adams  did  very  unpopular 
things  in  making  the  treaties  with  England  and  France. 
But  undoubtedly  both  were  right.  War  would  have 
been  a  serious  disaster  for  the  young  republic.  The  Jay 
treaty  of  1795  was  not  a  good  bargain.     But  it  kept  us 


Federalist  Ideas.  135 


at  peace  with  Great  Britain.  And  the  resolute  man- 
liness of  John  Adams  in  1799  kept  us  from  war  with 
France. 

At  the  same  time    the    course    of  the  president  dis-    5."^  P»''.^y 

^    _  _  dissensioiis 

rupted  the  Federalist  party.  The  war  feeling-  in  1798  result. 
had  given  the  Federalists  the  enthusiastic  support  of  the 
great  body  of  the  nation.  If  the  leaders  had  been  able 
to  agree  with  one  another,  and  had  followed  a  prudent 
policy,  there  seems  to  be  no  reason  to  suppose  that  there 
would  not  have  been  a  long  series  of  Federalist  adminis- 
trations. 

But  the  dominant  party  was  made  dizzy  with  success, 
and  proceeded  in  1798  to  enact  some  extreme  and  quite 
needless  measures.     The  Naturalization  Act  required  a   TheNaturaii- 

^  .      zation  Act. 

residence  of  fourteen  years,  and  in  other  ways  made  it 
far  less  easy  for  a  foreigner  to  become  a  citizen.  The 
Alien  Act  empowered  the  president  to  send  out  of  the    ,,. 

^  '■  Alien  and 

country  by  arbitrary  executive  process  any  alien  whom  Sedition  Laws. 
he  might  judge  to  be  in  any  way  dangerous.  Thus  in 
their  cases  trial  by  jury  was  abrogated.  The  Sedition 
Act  prescribed  fine  and  imprisonment  for  ' '  false,  scan- 
dalous, and  malicious  writings"  against  the  national 
government,  and  for  kindred  offenses.  It  should  be 
added  that  Hamilton  and  John  Marshall  were  not  in 
sympathy  with  the  policy  embodied  in  the  Alien  and 
Sedition  Laws. 

These  tyrannical  acts    excited   fierce  opposition,    not  .    .  . 

^  .  rr  '  The  Virginia 

only  from  the  Republicans,  as  the  party  of  Jefierson  had  and  Kentucky 
come  to  be  called,  but  from  moderate  people  in  general.  1798. 
The  legislature  of  Virginia  adopted  resolutions  drafted 
by  Madison  which  protested  against  the  laws  in  question 
as  ' '  palpable  and  alarming  infractions  of  the  constitu- 
tion. ' '  And  the  legislature  of  Kentucky  adopted  resolu- 
tions drawn  by  Jefferson  which  proceeded  further  to  de- 


136  The  Growth  of  the  American  Ndtio7i. 


Presidential 

nominations, 

1800. 


clare  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts  void.  The  strong- 
ground  was  taken  that  the  states  had  the  right  to  judge 
of  the  constitutionality  of  federal  legislation,  and  to  de- 
clare null  and  void  whatever  in  their  judgment  was  un- 
constitutional. This  dangerous  doctrine  was  the  germ 
from  which  grew  Calhoun's  nullification  theory  of  1832, 
and  secession  in  1861. 

As  the  presidential  election  of  1800  approached,  the 


A  bitter  contest. 


opposing  parties  made  their  nominations.  The  Fed- 
eralists named  Adams  for  president  and  C.  C.  Pinckney, 
of  South  Carolina,  for  vice-president.  The  Republican 
candidates  were  Jefferson  for  president  and  Aaron  Burr, 
the  brilliant  and  unscrupulous  New  York  politician,  for 
vice-president. 

The  contest  was  the  most  bitter  yet  waged.  Personal 
abuse  and  slander  abounded  on  both  sides.  Every  nerve 
was  strained.     The  Alien  and  Sedition  Acts  had  their 


Federalist  Ideas.  137 


due  weight.  And  the  violent  quarrels  of  the  Federalist 
leaders  precipitated  the  catastrophe.  When  the  elec- 
toral votes  were  cast,  it  appeared  that  Adams  was  de-  Adams.°^ 
feated.  Jefferson  and  Burr  had  each  seventy-three  votes, 
Adams  sixty-five,  Pinckney  sixty-four,  and  Jay  one. 
Under  the  constitution  as  it  then  stood,  the  House  of  throvvnlnto^the 
Representatives,  voting  by  states,  was  obliged  to  decide  °"^^" 
whether  Jefferson  or  Burr  should  be  president.  And  the 
House  was  Federalist.  A  week  was  spent  in  balloting, 
with  no  choice.  The  air  was  full  of  schemes.  Some 
proposed  to  stave  off  an  election  altogether,  and  to  have 
Congress  provide  that  some  good  Federalist  should  suc- 
ceed. Others  wished  to  choose  Burr  president.  The 
latter  was  a  tempting  plan,  as  that  tricky  politician  would 
doubtless  have  been  willing  to  make  a  good  bargain. 
But  Hamilton  opposed.  He  insisted  that  Burr  was  an 
unscrupulous  and  dangerous  man,  and  that  the  obvious 
will  of  the  people  should  be  obeyed  by  choosing  Jeffer- 
son.-^^  This  prudent  and  patriotic  advice  was  heeded, 
and  on  the  thirty-sixth  ballot  Jefferson  was  duly  elected.    Jefferson,  1801. 

Thus  for  the  first  time  an  opposition  party  triumphed 
in  a  presidential  election.  We  have  become  somewhat 
used  to  such  alternations,  and  are  accustomed  to  take  the 
defeat  of  our  candidates  philosophically.  But  the  good 
Federalist  parsons  in  New  England  felt  as  if  the  world 
were  coming  to  an  end. 


*  Burr  was  elected  vice-president.  In  1804,  as  his  term  drew  to  a  close,  he 
wished  to  become  governor  of  New  York.  He  had  quarreled  with  Jefferson, 
so  that  a  renomination  for  the  vice-presidency  was  impossible.  And  he  could 
be  chosen  governor  of  New  York  only  by  Federalist  support.  This  was  re- 
fused him,  by  the  influence  of  Hamilton.  And  Burr  took  his  revenge  by 
challenging  Hamilton  to  a  duel,  in  which  the  great  Federalist  leader  was 
killed. 


CHAPTER  X. 

SOCIETY    BECOMES    DEMOCRATIC. 

References. — Schouler  ;  McMaster  ;  Hinsdale  :  The  Old 
Northwest;  Roosevelt:  The  Wiiming  of  the  West;  Common- 
wealth Series  :  Ohio,  Kentucky,  Indiana ;  Statesmen  Series  : 
Washington,  Jefferson,  Hamilton. 

The  Federalists  did  not  know  that  they  were  trying 
movemSiTof  ^^   to  row  their  craft  up  Niagara.      But  aristocracy  as  a  po- 
^  ^^^'  litical  theory  was  doomed.     The  whole  social  trend  of 

the  age  was  toward  democracy.  The  French  Revolu- 
tion, which  shook  Europe  to  its  foundations,  was  merely 
the  uprising  of  the  masses  against  the  privileges  and 
tyranny  of  the  classes.  And  this  great  European  move- 
ment received  a  powerful  impulse  from  the  Revolution  in 
America.  French  soldiers  who  had  served  this  side  the 
water  went  home  full  of  the  ideas  of  republican  liberty. 
And  at  the  same  time  the  mere  fact  of  a  revolution  was 
disorganizing  here.  The  official  and  social  aristocrats  in 
the  colonies  were  to  a  considerable  extent  Tories.  The 
insurrection  of  necessity  tended  to  break  up  the  habit 
of  reverence  for  authority  and  obedience  to  law.  Dur- 
ing the  eight  years  of  war  the  American  people  moved 
fast  and  far  on  the  road  to  democracy.  The  Fed- 
eralists saw  and  dreaded  the  turbulence  and  coarseness 
of  the  democratic  movement.  They  could  not  under- 
The  Federalists  ^taud  that  the  masscs  could  really  be  trusted  with  po- 
Sandi't."'^^'^"  litical  power,  any  more  than  England's  Tudors  could 
think  of  the  commons  as  entitled  to  any  voice  in  matters 
of  state.     So  in  their  aristocratic  aims  the  Federalists 

138 


Society  Becomes  De77iocratic.  139 


were  merely  striving  vainly  against  the  irresistible  sweep 
of  social  development.  They  were  like  Dame  Parting- 
ton, trying  to  sweep  up  the  ocean  with  a  broom. 

When  the  War  of  Independence  was  over,  the  Ameri-   Settling  the 

^  _  _  '  wilderness. 

can  people  set  to  work  to  retrieve  their  shattered  for- 
tunes. The  virgin  soil  of  a  new  world  was  theirs,  and 
from  this  prosperity  was  to  be  wrought.  Immigration 
began  to  flow  toward  the  West,  and  the  cabins  of  the 
settlers  dotted  the  great  forests  far  beyond  the  old 
frontier.  New  York  at  the  time  of  the  war  had  been 
merely  the  valleys  of  the    Hudson  and  the    Mohawk.    Western 

^  ^  1     1         .  New  York. 

New  land  was  now  taken  up  and  clearmgs  made  near  the 
headwaters  of  the  Delaware,  on  the  Genesee,  along  the 
beautiful  lakes  that  lie  south  of  the  Ontario.  The  pop- 
ulation of  the  state  increased  from  340,000  in  1790  to 
589,000  in  1800.  In  the  former  year  the  first  census 
under  the  constitution  showed  that  there  were  four  states 
each  of  which  had  more  people  than  New  York — Vir- 
ginia, Pennsylvania,  North  Carolina,  and  Massachusetts. 
But  the  census  of  1820  found  them  all  outstripped. 

The  peace  of  1783  defined  the  western  boundary  of  the 
United  States  by  the  Mississippi.  But  west  of  the  AUe-  Kentucky  and 
gheny  Mountains  was  a  trackless  wilderness.  A  few 
hardy  woodsmen  had  planted  their  block  houses  in  Ken- 
tucky and  Tennessee  before  the  war  broke  out.  And 
the  tide  of  settlers  flowed  steadily  over  the  mountains 
even  during  the  war.  Kentucky  was  not  inhabited  by 
Indians,  but  they  claimed  it  as  a  hunting-ground,  and 
the  settlers  maintained  a  long  and  bloody  conflict  with 
the  savages  from  across  the  Ohio. 

North  of  that  great  river  there  were  at  the  end  of  the 
Revolution  only  a  few  military  posts  and  a  few  villages  of  ^er^rit^Jy!^"^^^' 
the    French.       The  country  teemed   with  game,   while 
noble  forests  showed  the  richness  of  the  soil.     But  the 


140  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


The  Ordinance 

of  1787. 


Settlements  in 
Ohio. 


Cleveland. 


Indians  were  numerous,  and  they  were  determined  that 
white  men  should  not  destroy  their  homes.  Virginia 
and  New  York  had  ceded  their  claims  north  of  the  Ohio 
to  the  United  States,  and  in  1787  Congress  was  induced 
to  sell  a  large  tract  of  land  to  a  company  who  desired  to 
make  a  settlement.  In  order  to  provide  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  district  Congress  enacted  the  famous  Ordi- 
nance of  1787,  which  was  the  true  Magna  Charta  of  the 
Northwestern  States.  Among  its  important  provisions, 
the  ordinance  forbade  slavery  in  all  the  territory  north  of 
the  Ohio.  The  territory  included  all  the  land  between 
the  Ohio  and  the  lakes,  from  Pennsylvania  to  the  Mis- 
sissippi. The  early  immigrants  were  many  of  them  rev- 
olutionary veterans,  largely  from  New  England,  men  of 
brains  and  energy.  The  first  settlement  was  at  Marietta 
(named  from  Marie  Antoinette,  the  queen  of  France), 
in  1788.  In  the  same  year  another  company  founded 
Cincinnati.  This  was  first  called  ' '  Losantiville, ' '  which 
name  a  pedantic  schoolmaster  devised  from  a  mixture 
of  French,  Latin,  and  English,  meaning  "the  city  op- 
posite the  mouth  of  the  Licking."  "A  few  weeks 
later,"  says  McMaster,  "the  Indians  scalped  him." 
The  way  being  opened,  a  stream  of  pioneers  crossed 
the  Pennsylvania  mountains.  They  embarked  in  flat- 
boats  at  Pittsburg,  floated  down  the  Ohio,  and  soon 
its  northern  banks  were  lined  with  settlements.  The 
shores  of  Lake  Erie  were  neglected  at  first,  owing  to 
uncertainty  about  land  titles.  But  Connecticut  having 
at  last  arranged  its  claims  with  the  United  States, 
settlers  took  up  the  northern  lands  also.  In  1796 
Moses  Cleveland,  agent  of  a  land  company  which  in 
the  previous  year  had  made  a  large  purchase  in  the 
"Western  Reserve"  of  Connecticut,  laid  the  founda- 
tions of  a  city  which  was  named  from  him.     But  the  line 


Society  Becomes  Democratic.  141 

of  the  Ohio  River  was  for  some  time  yet  the  favorite. 
The  form  of  government  provided  for  this  first  terri- 
tory is  interesting-,  as  its  general  lines  have  been  followed  territorial 

.        .  „  .  government. 

in  later  territorial  enactments.  Congress  provided  for  a 
governor,  secretary,  and  judges,  and  the  necessary  staff. 
The  governor  and  judges  were  empowered  to  compile 
such  laws  as  might  be  appropriate.  When  the  popu- 
lation should  include  five  thousand  free  males  of  full 
age  there  was  to  be  a  territorial  legislature  consisting  of 
the  governor,  a  council  appointed  by  Congress,  and  an 
assembly  elected  by  the  people  of  the  territory.  Thus 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  governor  had  an  absolute  veto  on 
the  acts  of  the  council  and  assembly. 

In  1790  the  territory  south  of  the  Ohio  was  organized  The  Southwest 
in  a  similar  form.     The  antislavery  clause  was  expressly   Territory, 
excepted,  however. 

The  Indians  north  of  the  Ohio  were  not  disposed  to  ^^^  ^.^^^  ^^^ 
submit  to  the  presence  of  white  settlers,  and  began  hos-   ^"dians. 
tilities   along   the   border.     Governor  St.   Clair  led  an 
army  against  them,  but  he  was  surprised  and  his  force  defeat, 

November, 

cut  to  pieces.  General  Anthony  Wayne  then  took  com-  1791. 
mand  of  the  troops  in  the  Northwest,  and  in  the  summer 
of  1794  he  penetrated  the  Indian  country  and  in  a  skil-  viSy,%94. 
ful  campaign  succeeded  in  accomplishing  the  utter  over- 
throw of  the  savages.  This  victory  was  of  untold  im- 
portance to  the  new  settlements,  as  it  enabled  the 
pioneers  to  make  their  solitary  clearings  in  safety.  The 
Americans  had  reason  to  believe  that  the  Indians  had 
received  substantial  aid  from  the  British,  who  still  held 
Detroit  and  other  posts  within  the  limits  of  the  United 
States.  But  the  Jay  treaty  of  1795  led  to  the  abandon- 
ment of  these  posts  and  thus  to  the  cessation  of  that 
cause  of  disturbance  on  the  frontier. 

Governor  St.  Clair  and  many  of  the  early  settlers  of 


142  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation, 


Pioneer 
politics. 


Pioneer  life  a 
dominant  fact. 


Pp.  116-17. 


Eli  Whitney's 
cotton-gin,  1793. 


the  Northwest  were  warmly  attached  to  the  Federal  pol- 
icy of  Washington  and  Adams.  Cincinnati  was  named 
from  the  military  order  founded  by  the  revolutionary 
officers  ;  the  first  county  organized  in  the  new  territory 
was  Washington  ;  Hamilton  was  another.  But  practically 
the  violence  of  party  strife  in  the  East  was  not  reflected  in 
the  new  West.  The  conditions  of  pioneer  life  enforced 
a  substantial  equality  which  made  democracy  the  natural 
social  and  political  environment.  Kentucky  and  Ten- 
nessee were  therefore  stanchly  sustained  by  the  settle- 
ments north  of  the  Ohio  in  support  of  Jefferson. 

In  the  last  decade  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  move- 
ment of  population  to  the  unsettled  West  thus  began  to 
assume  considerable  proportions.  It  has  gone  on  since 
with  accelerating  velocity  to  the  very  shores  of  the 
Pacific.  And  through  all  the  century  since  the  Ordi- 
nance of  1787  was  passed  the  life  of  the  republic  has 
taken  a  large  part  of  its  meaning  from  the  fact  of  this 
constant  westward  current  of  migration  and  from  the  con- 
tinual existence  and  influence  of  pioneer  communities  in 
various  stages  of  development.  When  population  has 
become  relatively  stable  throughout  the  Union  there 
will  begin  a  totally  new  era  in  the  development  of  the 
nation. 

But  while  many  people  who  were  tired  of  working  for 
a  scanty  subsistence  on  the  rugged  soil  of  New  England 
were  eagerly  pressing  toward  the  golden  West,  many 
more  were  finding  profitable  employment  in  new  lines  of 
activity  at  home.  Commerce,  as  has  been  seen,  took  a 
new  birth  with  the  assured  form  of  government  under 
the  constitution.  Manufactures  were  spreading  and 
multiplying  in  the  Eastern  and  Middle  States.  And 
under  the  stimulus  of  Whitney's  invention  cotton  was 
getting  to  be  a  valuable  export  from  the  Southern  States 


Society  Becomes  Democratic. 


143 


Far-reaching 
results. 


along  with  rice,  indigo,  and  tobacco.  The  cotton-gin  had 
other  remarkable  results.  Before  it  was  used  a  slave  could 
not  clean  more  than  a  pound  of  cotton  in  a  day.  With  the 
gin  one  slave  could 
clean  a  thousand 
pounds  a  day.  And 
not  only  did  cotton 
lands  in  the  South  be- 
come valuable,  but  at 
the  same  time  cotton 
factories  at  the  North 
sprang  up  in  great 
numbers,  and  slaves 
suddenly  became  a 
source  of  wealth  to  all 
the  states  south  of 
Mason  and  Dixon's 
line.  The  cotton-gin 
thus  ranks  with  the 
railroad  and  the  elec- 
tric telegraph  as  a  cause  of  profound  economic  and 
political  changes. 

The  expansion  of  manufactures  and  commerce  in  the 

^  1  1     X-  .-  111  1  Growth  of 

Central  and  Eastern  States  tended  to  draw  people  to-  cities, 
gether  in  masses.  In  other  words,  the  cities  set  out  on 
that  marvelous  growth  which  is  now  so  significant  a  fact 
in  our  social  organism.  When  the  first  federal  census 
was  taken,  in  1790,  only  about  three  per  cent  of  the 
American  people  lived  in  citiesof  over  8,000  inhabitants, 
and  there  were  only  six  such  cities.  In  1800  the  per  cent 
in  cities  was  four,  and  the  number  of  such  cities  was  still 
only  six.  In  1890  there  were  437  cities  of  over  8,000 
people,  containingtwenty-nineper  centof  the  population. 
And  ten  per  cent  of  the  total  population  are  found  in  the 


Eli  Whitney. 
Born,  1765 ;  died,  1825.     Graduated  at  Yale, 
1792  ;  invented  saw-gin  in  same  year,  while 
in  Georgia. 


Conkling,  p.  5. 


144         The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Democratic 
tendency  of 
social 
conditions. 


Immigration 
from  Europe. 


Jefferson's  fear 
of  a  monarchy. 


largest  four  cities.  It  will  be  seen  that  when  the  last 
century  closed  there  were  few  important  questions  relat- 
ing to  the  management  of  these  little  towns.  The  prob- 
lem of  the  city,  now  so  grave  and  difficult,  has  only  of  late 
emerged  into  the  public  consciousness. 

This  intense  ferment  of  life  in  developing  the  material 
resources  of  a  new  country  was  not  favorable  to  aristo- 
cratic ideas.  Strength  and  energy  of  character  were  con- 
tinually bringing  new  men  to  the  surface.  Things  were 
to  be  had  for  the  winning.  And  no  limited  class  could 
long  retain  special  privileges,  either  political  or  social. 
Sediment  is  deposited  only  in  still  water.  And  Ameri- 
can society  in  these  years  was  a  turbid  torrent. 

At  the  same  time  an  immigration  from  Europe  had 
set  in  which  was  for  that  day  so  large  as  to  alarm  con- 
servative people.  In  the  decade  from  the  census  of  1790 
to  that  of  1800  the  population  increased  from  4,000,000 
to  5,000,000.  Frenchmen  came  from  San  Domingo 
and  other  West  India  islands.  There  were  Irishmen  who 
were  fugitives  from  what  they  deemed  to  be  Saxon 
tyranny  at  home  ;  there  were  Scotchmen  and  English- 
men and  Germans.  Most  of  these  people  were  full  of 
the  social  discontent  of  Europe,  many  of  them  were  im- 
bued with  the  political  ideas  which  were  rife  in  France, 
and  especially  with  bitter  hatred  of  England.  And  their 
turbulence  and  unbridled  license  of  tongue  were  the  ex- 
cuse to  the  Federalists  for  passing  the  Naturalization  Act 
and  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws  in  1798. 

All  this  democratic  sentiment  was  in  opposition  to  the 
government.  But  there  was  another  element  of  opposi- 
tion quite  as  strong.  When  Jefferson  landed  in  New 
York  in  March,  1790,  he  was  fresh  from  France  and  its 
effervescent  enthusiasm  for  the  "rights  of  man."  He 
shared  to  the  full  in  the  views  of  the  French  radicals,  and 


Society  Becomes  De^nocratic.  145 


was  alarmed  to  find  that  among  the  influential  Ameri- 
can politicians  there  was  a  strong;  conservative  sentiment. 
The  light  talk  of  the  dinner  table  and  the  coflee-house 
commended  a  monarchical  government  as  the  most  effi- 
cient and  the  most  stable  possible.  And  soon  Jefferson 
made  up  his  mind  that  there  was  a  plot  brewing  among 
the  Federalist  leaders  to  convert  the  new  republic  into  a 
monarchy.  The  stages  by  which  he  thought  he  saw  that 
the  impending  change  would  come,  were,  first,  a  strong 
centralized  government,  then  the  presidency  and  Senate 
for  life,  then  hereditary  tenure. 

These   views   of  Jefferson  industriously  disseminated   „,    „     ,,. 

•^  -^  The  Republican 

fell  in  fertile  soil  among  the  old  state  rights  Anti-Feder-  p^^'>- 
alists.  And  from  these,  from  some  moderate  Federalists, 
like  Madison,  who  were  repelled  by  Hamilton's  schemes, 
and  from  the  democratic  clubs  in  the  northern  cities,  the 
astute  secretary  was  able  to  form  an  opposition  party. 
As  early  as  1792  it  had  taken  shape  and  Jefferson  had 
given  it  the  name  "  Republican,"  to  indicate  its  cardinal 
principle  of  opposition  to  the  alleged  monarchical  plot  of 
the  Federalists. 

The   first   two    Congresses   were    Federalist   in    both   ^ 

'='  ^  Congress 

branches.     The  Third  Congress,  chosen  in  1794,  had  a  "suaiiy 

^_  '  '  ^^'  Federalist. 

Republican  majority  of  ten  in  the  Lower  House,  and  a 
tie  in  the  Senate.  Vice-president  Adams  often  had  to 
give  his  casting  vote.  The  Federalists  were  successful 
in  1796,  and  owing  to  the  war  feeling  against  France, 
again  in  1798.  But  that  was  the  last  Federalist  Con- 
gress. 

Party  spirit  in  these  first  administrations  was  as  bitter  ^^^^  gpj^j^ 
as  it  ever  has  been  since.      Difference  of  opinion  and 
clash  of  ambitions  led  to  suspicions,  hatred,  and  abuse. 
The  Federalists,  said  their  adversaries,  were  aristocrats, 
were  bought  with  British  gold,  were  scheming  to  subvert 


146  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Rancorous 
abuse  of  party 
opponents. 


Washington 
vilified. 


The  revolution 
of  1801. 


the  republic  and  to  establish  a  monarchy.  The  Republi- 
cans were  Jacobins,  were  atheists,  were  seeking,  like 
their  beloved  friends  in  France,  to  overturn  society  itself. 
No  politician  has  been  more  heartily  hated  than  Hamil- 

ton.  No  party 
leader  has  been  more 
vilely  abused  than 
Jefferson.  No  pres- 
ident has  been  worse 
lampooned  than 
Washington.  A 
torrent  of  vituper- 
ation was  poured  on 
him  by  certain  pa- 
pers. One  writer 
called  him  a  thief — 
declared  that  he  had 
repeatedly  over- 
drawn his  salary. 
Even  when  his  fare- 
well address  ap- 
peared, it  was  sav- 
agely attacked. 
His  motives  were 
vilified  ;  and  he  was 
pursued  to  Mount  Vernon  with  sneers  and  slander.* 

The  election  that  seated  Jefferson  in  the  presidential 
chair  he  always  regarded  as  a  real  revolution.  It  saved 
the  republic,  he  held.  If  the  Federalists  had  succeeded, 
a  monarchy  would  have  been  almost  the  sure  result. 
But  Jefferson's  election  hung  on  a  slender  thread.  One 
Rhode  Island  elector  voted  for  John  Jay  instead  of  Pinck- 
ney.     And  the  South  Carolina  electors  were  willing  to 

*  Washington  died  in  1799. 


Born 


Charles  Cotesworth  Pincknev. 
1746;  died,  1825.     Educated  at  Oxford  and 


the  Temple,  England  ;  lawyer  and  revolution- 
ary soldier;  member  of  Philadelphia  con- 
vention, 1787  ;  minister  to  France,  1796  ;  major- 
general  in  United  States  army ;  Federalist 
candidate  for  vice-president,  1800,  and  for  pres- 
ident, 1864  and  1808. 


Society  Becomes  Democratic.  147 

vote  for  Pinckney  and  Jefferson,  but  not  for  Adams.  But 
General  Pinckney  declined  to  accept  such  a  vote.  If  he 
had  felt  otherwise,  he  would  have  had  seventy-two  votes, 
and  would  have  been  vice-president.  Had  the  Rhode 
Island  electors  all  voted  loyally  for  Pinckney,  their  vote, 
with  that  of  South  Carolina,  would  have  tied  him  with 
Jefferson,  and  the  Federalist  House  of  Representatives 
would  have  elected  Pinckney  promptly  to  the  presidency. 
Again,  the  New  York  legislature,  which  chose  the  elec- 
tors, was  elected  in  the  spring,  although  the  term  did 
not  begin  until  the  following  winter.  When  it  appeared 
that  the  Republicans  had  a  majority  of  the  new  legisla- 
ture, Hamilton  wrote  to  Governor  John  Jay,  suggesting 
that  the  old  legislature  be  convened  and  a  law  be  enacted 
relegating  the  choice  of  electors  to  the  people  by  con- 
gressional districts.  This  would  have  been  entirely  legal, 
and  would  have  insured  the  election  of  Adams  and  Pinck- 
ney. But  Governor  Jay,  like  General  Pinckney,  was  a 
man  of  scrupulous  honor,  and  he  declined  to  act  as 
proposed. 

In  truth,  the  Federalists  were  doomed.  Their  folly  in  End  of  the 
enacting  the  Alien  and  Sedition  Laws,  and  the  jealousy  party"^^  '^^ 
and  quarrels  of  their  leaders,  w^ere  enough  to  defeat  any 
party.  And  when  the  party  of  Jefferson  was  once  in 
power,  no  efforts  of  the  Federalists  could  ever  dislodge 
it.  The  party  of  Hamilton  and  Adams  proved  a  poor 
opposition.  They  occasionally  had  a  majority  in  one 
House  of  Congress,  but  they  never  again  came  near 
electing  a  president.  And  after  the  second  war  with 
England  they  disappeared  altogether. 


CHAPTER   XI. 


JEFFERSONIAN    REPUBLICANISM. 


Jefferson. 


Personal  char- 
acteristics. 


JefFersonian 
simplicity. 


References. — Schouler;  McMaster;  Andrews:  United  States; 
Henry  Adams  :  United  States ;  Statesmen  Series  :  Jefferson, 
Gallatin. 

I  ■  Thomas  Jefferson  came  to  the  presidency  at  a  time 
peculiarly  opportune  for  his  success. --The  gist  of  his 
political  philosophy  was  to  do  as  little  governing  as  pos- 
sible. And  the  circumstances  of  the  country  were  such 
that  at  just  that  time  it  was  bound  to  prosper  under  al- 
most any  conditions.  And  this  abundant  prosperity  of 
every  section  of  the  nation  the  masses  of  the  people  at 
once  attributed  to  the  wise  policy  of  the  philosopher 
president.  His  personality  was  omnipotent  with  his 
party.  And  his  political  doctrines  for  a  half  century 
were  the  common  creed  of  the  dominant  democracy. 

The  first  Republican  president  was  born  in  1743,  in 
Virginia.  He  was  tall,  slender,  sandy  complexioned, 
somewhat  shy  and  awkward  in  manner.  His  six  feet 
two  and  a  half  inches  were  usually  attired  plainly  and 
in  a  manner  to  indicate  his  contempt  for  fashion.  In- 
deed, he  quite  horrified  some  of  the  ceremonious  diplo- 
mats by  his  utter  indifference  to  social  forms.  He  was 
known  to  come  in  from  his  garden  arrayed  very  care- 
lessly in  order  to  receive  a  foreign  minister  in  full  dress. 
He  considered  the  formal  system  of  precedence  observed 
at  dinner  parties  to  be  a  survival  of  aristocracy  entirely 
out  of  place  in  a  plain  republic.  All,  he  said,  were 
equal,   without  regard  to  employment,   age,   or  official 

148 


Jeffersonian  Repiiblicanisin. 


149 


rank.     And  so  at  his  entertainments  when  dinner  was 
announced   the  ladies  went  in  first  in  a  flock  and  sat 
where  they  pleased.     The  gentlemen  then  followed  en   Peie-meie. 
masse,  and  sat  where  they  could.      This  system  Jeffer-   H^_Adams,  i. 
son  called  "a  perfect  pele-mele." 

A   story  was    long    current,    and  is  still  believed  by 


Thomas  Jefferson. 
Bom,  1743  ;  died,  July  4,  1826.  Was  graduated  at  William  and  Mary  College  ; 
admitted  to  the  bar,  1767  ;  member  of  the  Continental  Congress,  1775-6  ;  Dec- 
laration of  Independence,  1776  ;  member  of  legislature  of  Virginia  and  leader 
in  important  legal  reforms,  1776  ;  governor  of  Virginia,  1779  ;  Congress,  1783  ; 
minister  to  France,  1784-9;  secretary  of  state,  1790-4;  vice-president,  1797- 
1801 ;  president,  1801-9.     Founder  of  the  University  of  Virginia. 


150  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 

some,   that  Jefferson,   at  his  first  inauguration,  rode  to 
The  story  of        the  Capitol  Unattended,  with  his  own  hands  tied  his  horse 

Jefferson's  first  ^  •         1       •  1         o 

inauguration.      to  the  feuce,  and  walked  unceremoniously  mto  the  Sen- 
Morse,  210 ;        ate  chamber.     This  particular  bit  of  Jeffersonian  sim- 
308.  "^^^^  '  "'        plicity  seems  to  be  pure  fiction.      The  president-elect 
walked  to  the  Capitol  attended  by  an  escort  both  civil 
and  military.     The  horse  story  was  invented  by  an  im- 
aginative English  traveler. 

9  Another  of  Jefferson's  democratic  ideas  was  the  presi- 
message!'  ^"^  "^  dent's  message.  Under  his  predecessors  it  had  been 
customary  on  the  assembling  of  Congress  for  the  presi- 
dent to  meet  the  two  Houses  together  and  read  to  them 
a  formal  address.  The  Houses  then  separated,  each  de- 
liberated on  the  speech,  adopted  a  suitable  reply,  and 
then  walking  in  procession  to  the  president's  house  had 
this  reply  duly  read  to  him.  This,  of  course,  was  in 
imitation  of  the  English  custom.  But  Jefferson  de- 
clared that  such  a  procedure  was  monarchical  and  use- 
less. What  he  had  to  say  to  Congress  he  said  in  writing. 
The  reply  was  dispensed  with.  And  this  very  sensible 
innovation  has  been  followed  by  all  our  presidents  since 
1801. 

The  mental  characteristics  of  this  unceremonious  Vir- 
ginian were  as  striking  as  were  his  physique  and  his 
social  ways.  His  hobby  was  omniscience.  Literature 
he  read  with  avidity.  He  studied  and  practiced  scien- 
tific agriculture  with  great  exactness  of  detail.  He  in- 
vented an  improved  plow.  He  listened  with  sympathetic 
attention  to  the  first  crude  proposals  to  apply  steam  to 
machinery,  and  at  once  foresaw  some  of  the  vast  conse- 
quences. Until  the  Revolutionary  War  he  was  an 
ardent  devotee  of  the  violin.  He  made  experiments  in 
astronomy,  and  examined  with  great  interest  the  remains 
of  antiquity  in   France.     He  had  positive  opinions  on 


Mental  traits. 


Jeffei^sonian  Republicanism.  151 


architecture — himself  drawing  the  plans  for  the  Univer- 
sity of  Virginia  and  for  his  own  mansion  at  Monticello,^^ 
and  giving  close  attention  to  those  of  the  Capitol  at 
Washington.  Mr.  Jefferson  was  accused  by  the  Feder- 
alists with  being  an  atheist.  This  was  a  mistake.  Like 
Franklin,  he  was  an  unbeliever  in  orthodox  Christianity, 
but  he  was  not  an  unbehever  in  God. 

It  will  be  seen  that  Jefferson's  most  striking  quality 
was  his  great  versatility  of  knowledge  and  interest.  He 
could  talk  intelligently  about  everything — and  he  did. 
His  tongue  ran  incessantly,  and  his  pen  kept  pace,  as  his 
voluminous  and  varied  correspondence  shows.  One 
thing,  and  only  one  thing,  could  silence  him — demand 
for  a  public  address.  Mr.  Jefferson  was  not  an  orator. 
When  his  voice  was  raised  much  above  conversational 
pitch,  some  infirmity  of  the  throat  caused  sound  to  cease 
altogether.  So  he  made  no  speeches.  Conversation  and 
the  pen  were  his  weapons. 

Here,  then,  was  a  philosopher,  who  delighted  in  every 
form  of  human  thought.  His  profession  of  the  law  and  ideas, 
the  tumultuous  condition  of  the  times  had  turned  his 
main  energies  to  political  reform.  He  had  had  large  ex- 
perience in  public  life,  in  the  legislature  of  his  native 
state,  and  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  as  gov- 
ernor of  Virginia,  as  minister  to  France,  as  secretary  of 
state  under  Washington,  and  as  vice-president.  He 
was  the  organizer  and  unquestioned  chief  of  a  great  po- 
litical party  which  was  now  ready,  by  its  possession  of 
the  legislative  branch,  to  embody  in  practice  whatever 
theories  the  versatile  mind  of  the  Virginian  should 
conceive. 

And  these  theories  were  very  definite.      The  election 

*  It  is  said  that  the  builders  at  Monticello  had  made  considerable  progress 
before  they  discovered  that  the  ingenious  architect  had  forgotten  to  provide 
for  any  stairways. 


His  versatilitv. 


His  political 


u 


152  The  Growth  of  the  A^Jierican  Nation, 


The  revolution 
of  1801.     See  p, 
146. 


Jefferson's 
Works,  v.,  331 


Nature  of  the 
Union. 


Strict  con- 
struction. 


The  judge  of 
infraction  of 
the  constitution 


Pp.  135-6. 


of  1 800-1  seemed  to  him  a  real  political  revolution.  The 
country,  he  asserted,  had  been  saved  from  a  plot  to  make 
it  a  monarchy.  The  ship  of  state  was  now  to  be  put  on 
the  Republican  tack. 
--  Jefferson's  view  of  the  nature  and  interpretation  of  the 
^  constitution  was  directly  the  reverse  of  that  held  by 
Hamilton  and  the  high  Federalists  generally.  The  fed- 
eral government,  Jefferson  held,  was  essentially  only  a 
sort  of  committee  on  foreign  relations.  As  he  wrote  to 
a  friend  in  1800  :  "  The  true  theory  of  our  constitution 
is  surely  the  wisest  and  best,  that  the  states  are  in- 
dependent as  to  everything  within  themselves,  and  united 
as  to  everything  respecting  foreign  nations.  Let  the 
general  government  be  reduced  to  foreign  concerns  only, 
and  let  our  affairs  be  disentangled  from  those  of  all  other 
nations,  except  as  to  commerce,  which  the  merchants 
will  manage  the  better  the  more  they  are  left  free  to  man- 
age for  themselves,  and  our  general  government  may  be 
reduced  to  a  very  simple  organization  and  a  very  in- 
expensive one  ;  a  few  plain  duties  to  be  performed  by  a 
few  servants." 

With  this  conception  of  the  nature  of  the  Union  his 
theory  of  constitutional  interpretation  readily  accorded. 
The  document,  he  held,  should  be  construed  strictly. 
The  federal  government  has  no  power  not  given  it  ex- 
pressly or  by  necessary  implication.  And  any  exercise 
of  power  beyond  those  limits  is  a  clear  infraction  of  the 
constitution. 

But  who  shall  judge  of  an  alleged  violation  of  the  or- 
ganic law  at  the  hands  of  the  federal  authorities  ?  The 
Supreme  Court,  said  the  Federalists.  The  several  states, 
said  Jefferson.  In  the  resolutions  of  the  Kentucky 
legislature  in  1789,  adopted  on  account  of  the  obnoxious 
Alien  and  Sedition  Laws,  and  drafted  by  Jefferson  him- 


c 


Jeffersonian  Republicanism.  153 

self,  occur  these  words  :  "  As  in  all  other  cases  of 
compact  among  powers  having  no  common  judge,  each  {|5^rk^°",'x 
party  has  an  equal  right  to  judge  for  itself,  as  well  of  in-  464. 
fractions  as  of  the  mode  and  measure  of  redress. ' '  We 
can  see  in  these  doctrines  both  nullification  and  seces- 
sion. But  it  is  hardly  likely  that  Jefferson  would  have 
carried  his  views  to  those  extremes. 

Early  in  the  course  of  the  new  administration  an  op-  ^^^  urchase 
'portunity  was  given  for  testing  the  working  of  strict  con-  of^Louisiana, 
struction.  The  province  of  Louisiana,  including  the 
land  from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  and 
from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  British  America,  had  origi- 
nally belonged  to  France.  In  1 762  that  nation  had  trans- 
ferred the  territory  to  Spain.  The  Mississippi  was  the 
natural  outlet  of  the  Ohio  Valley,  as  transportation  over 
the  Alleghenies,  in  those  days  before  railroads  were  de- 
vised, was  impracticable  on  any  large  scale.  But  the 
Spanish  officials  at  New  Orleans  interposed  vexatious  re- 
strictions on  trade,  and  the  new  western  settlements  in 
Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee  were  virtually  bottled  up 
by  the  owners  of  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi.  In  1800 
Spain,  by  a  secret  treaty  with  Napoleon,  restored  Louisi- 
ana to  France.  This  fact  was  ascertained  by  the  Ameri- 
can government  late  in  1801  and  at  once  excited  grave 
alarm.  Spain  was  a  troublesome  neighbor,  but  France 
would  surely  prove  a  dangerous  one.  Accordingly 
Monroe  was  sent  as  a  special  envoy  to  France,  to  act  in 
conjunction  with  the  resident  minister,  Livingston,  in 
the  purchase  of  New  Orleans  ;  $2,000,000  were  allowed 
for  that  purpose.  But  Napoleon  was  on  the  eve  of  war 
with  England.  He  knew  that  he  could  not  hold  his  col- 
onies while  England  ruled  the  sea.  And  he  offered  the  j^apoieon  offers 
Americans  the  whole  of  Louisiana.  They  had  no  JJJS^J^i? 
authority  to  strike  such   a  bargain.      But  there  was  no 


154  ^'^^^  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 

time  to  send  for  instructions,  and  so  they  closed  with  the 
offer,  trusting  to  be  vindicated  by  the  necessity  of  the 
case  and  the  overwhelming  advantages  to  be  obtained. 
The  price  was  $15,000,000.  * 

'■'  Jefferson  was  in  a  quandary.  There  was  not  a  line  in 
the  constitution  which  directly  authorized  the  acquisition 
of  foreign  territory,  and  the  president  thought  that 
action  should  not  be  taken  until  an  amendment  could  be 
adopted.  But  the  Senate  saw  that  the  chance  would 
probably  be  lost  if  there  should  be  delay,  and  so  ratified 
the  treaty  at  once.      Republican  theories  of  strict  con- 


Louisiana 

i)ought  in  spite 
of  tlie  consti- 
tution. 


7 


United  States 
English  Poss. 
Spanish  Poss.     ^^ 
Frencli  Poss.      ES3 
Oregon  country  f^S 


The  Territory  of  the  Present 

UNITED  STATES 

After  Feb.  1,X801. 

Spain  ceded  L&-  to  Srance 


struction  were  scattered  to  the  winds.  But  the  outlet  of 
the  Mississippi  was  secured  and  the  national  area  doubled. 
It  was  the  most  important  event  since  the  adoption  of 
the  constitution,  and  the  most  brilliant  in  the  history  of 
Jefferson's  eight  years  as  president. 

Jefferson's  ideas  as  to  finance  were  as  positive  as  those 

*  The  price  was  80,000,000  francs,  which  were  then  estimated  at  eighteen 
and  three  fourths  cents  each.     McMaster,  II. ,627-8. 


Jeffersonian  Republicajiism.  155 


Debt  and  taxes. 


y 


on  the  sphere  of  government.  In  the  first  place,  he  Finance, 
favored  entire  simplicity  in  the  methods.  He  wrote  to 
Gallatin  in  1802  :  "I  think  it  an  object  of  great  impor- 
tance ....  to  simplify  our  system  of  finance 
and  to  bring  it  within  the  comprehension  of  every  mem- 
ber of  Congress."  He  thought  that  Hamilton's  devices 
were  altogether  too  complicated  and  puzzling. 
X  Public  debt  Jefferson  regarded  as  an  unmixed  evil,  and 
funding  for  a  long  period  as  an  injustice  to  posterity. 
Each  generation  should,  as  far  as  possible,  pay  Its  way 
as  it  goes.  Hence,  the  public  service  should  be  admin- 
istered with  the  utmost  economy.  In  laying  taxes,  pro- 
vision should  be  made  first  of  all  for  the  interest  on  the 
debt,  then  for  an  annual  sum  to  be  set  aside  for  the  ex- 
tinction of  the  principal,  and  last  of  all  for  such  expendi- 
tures as  were  absolutely  necessary  in  administering  the 
government. 

V  The  internal  revenue  taxes  Jefferson  did  not  approve,  internal 
thinking  those  which  could  be  collected  at  the  custom-  revenue, 
houses  much  more  convenient  and  less  obnoxious. 

The  new  secretary  of  the  treasury  was  Albert  Gallatin,  Q^natin 
a  Pennsylvanian  of  Swiss  birth.  His  administration  was 
eminently  successful.  The  national  debt  under  the  Fed- 
eralist administrations,  from  1791  to  1801,  had  increased 
$7,000,000.  The  grand  total  January  i,  1801,  was  $80,- 
000,000.  On  the  first  of  January,  1808,  it  was  $65,-  fhfpuWk  debt. 
000,000.  And  yet  meanwhile  Louisiana  was  purchased 
for  $15,000,000,  and  the  internal  revenue  system  had 
been  abolished  ( 1 802  ) . 

Gallatin  estimated  that  with  an  annual  sum  of  $7, 300,-   provision  for 
000  for  the  sinking  fund,  the  debt  would  be  paid  by  18 17. 
After  the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  he  asked  $8,000,000 
annually  for  the  sinking  fund,  and  estimated  that  thus  the 
old  debt  would  still  be  paid  by  18 17,  and  the  new  (the 


% 


156  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Greatly  in- 
creased receipts 
at  the  custom- 
houses. 


Jefferson  and 
the  civil 


He  makes  a 
few  partisan 
removals. 


$15,000,000  for  Louisiana),  by  1821.  Of  course  the 
Embargo  and  the  War  of  18 12  greatly  reduced  the 
national  income  and  increased  the  debt.  And  yet  the 
last  dollar  was  paid  in  1835. 

These  great  achievements  of  Gallatin  were  made  pos- 
sible not  only  by  the  great  economy  with  which  all  de- 
j)artments  of  government  were  administered  but  also  be- 
cause of  the  enormous  growth  of  the  customs  revenue. 
The  receipts  at  the  custom-houses  in  Adams's  adminis- 
tration were  $30,000,000.  In  Jefferson's  first  term  they 
were  $45,000,000,  and  in  his  second  term  they  were 
$60, 000, 000. 

The  accession  of  Mr.  Jefferson  to  the  presidency  was 
the  first  instance  in  our  history  of  a  change  of  national 
'parties,  and  we  have  become  accustomed  to  see  on  such 
occasions  a  general  change  in  the  federal  civil  offices. 
There  was  a  different  view  of  the  public  service  in  1801, 
it  being  taken  for  granted  that  a  competent  and  honest 
official  would  serve  for  life.  Mr.  Jefferson  did  not  make 
a  "  clean  sweep."  But  it  annoyed  him  to  find  that  the 
office-holders  were  all  Federalists.  He  thought  there 
ought  to  be  an  equal  division  between  the  parties  ;  but, 
as  he  complained,  he  soon  learned  that  ' '  few  die  and 
none  resign. ' '  And  so  he  made  places  for  some  Repub- 
licans by  removing  the  Federalist  incumbents.  He  chose 
for  this  purpose  those  whom  Adams  had  appointed  in 
the  closing  weeks  of  his  administration,  and  those  who 
had  made  themselves  especially  active  as  partisans.  In 
all  he  displaced  thirty-nine.  Washington,  in  his  two 
terms,  had  removed  nine,  one  of  whom  was  a  defaulter. 
Adams  had  removed  ten,  one  being  a  defaulter. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  the  spoils  system  was  introduced 
by  Jefferson.  We  owe  that  valuable  feature  of  our 
national  politics  to  Andrew  Jackson.      But  after  all  the 


Jcffersonian  Republicanism.  157 


//. 


principle  of  partisan  removals  was  that  on  which  Jeffer- 
son acted,  though  to  a  limited  extent. 

There  was  one  class  of  public  servants  that  was  be- 
yond  the  president's  reach.       The  federal  iudees  held  Jefferson  and 

.        .  JO  the  judiciary. 

by  the  constitutional  tenure  of  good  behavior,  and  thus 
could  be  removed  only  by  impeachment.  They  were  all 
Federalists,  and  in  their  hands  was  the  interpretation  of 
the  constitution.  Jefferson  thought  that  this  was  all 
wrong,  and  that  it  ought  to  be  possible  for  the  president 
to  remove  the  judges,  at  least  on  address  of  the  Houses 
of  Congress.  But  an  amendment  was  impracticable, 
and  so  the  new  administration  set  out  to  do  what  it  could. 
An  act  of  1802  repealed  the  Federalist  judiciary  act  of 
1 801,  and  thus  Adams's  "midnight"  appointees  were 
summarily  legislated  out  of  office — a  proceeding  of  which 
the  constitutionality  was  decidedly  questionable.  At 
the  same  time,  the  sessions  of  the  Supreme  Court  were 
suspended  for  fourteen  months,  and  in  the  meantime  im- 
peachment was  tried. 

Judge  Samuel  Chase  was  a  violent  partisan  who  had  impeachment 
not  scrupled  to  show  strong  bias  during  trials  under  the 
Sedition  Law,  and  who  had  delivered  a  political  philip- 
pic to  a  grand  jury  on  occasion  of  Jefferson's  election. 
He  was  impeached  for  this  conduct.  The  trial  before 
the  Senate  showed  plainly  that  the  judge  had  been 
guilty  of  bad  taste,  but  the  constitutional  number  of  sen- 
ators could  not  be  induced  to  hold  that  this  was  a  high 
crime  or  a  misdemeanor,  and  so  he  was  acquitted.  Jef- 
ferson was  deeply  disappointed.  The  weapon  of  impeach- 
ment had  proved  futile.  And  to  the  president's  great 
discontent  Marshall  and  his  colleagues  were  able  to  go  on 
their  way  unmolested.  At  a  later  date,  when  some  of  the 
great  constitutional  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  were 
rendered,     Jefferson    wrote    indignantly   of    the   court : 


158  The  Growth  of  the  American  Natio7i. 


' '  That  body,  like  gravity,  ever  acting  with  noiseless  feet 
and  unalarming  advance,  gaining  ground  step  by  step, 
and  holding  what  it  gains,  is  ingulfing  insidiously  the 
special  governments. ' ' 
/  /  Throughout  all  these  opening  years  of  the  nineteenth 
General  pros-  century  the  country  was  prospering  on  every  hand. 
The  total  population,  less  than  4,000,000  in  1790  and 
over  5,000,000  in   1800,  had  passed  7,000,000  in  18 10. 


penty. 


The  Territory  of  the  Preaen 
UNITED  STATES 
After  Apr.  30. 1803. 
United  States 
English  Pass, 
Siianisli  Pa»i. 
Ore.ijon  CouMtn  ■ 


Ohio  becomes 
a  state. 


Shaler.  I. 


527. 


/- 


Immigration  flowed  in  from  Europe.  The  land  beyond 
the  Alleghenies  was  becoming  filled  with  people. 

In  1800  the  Northwest  Territory  was  divided  into 
Ohio  and  Indiana,  and  in  1803  Ohio  became  a  state. 
The  territory  of  Michigan  was  formed  in  1805,  and  the 
territory  of  Illinois  in  1809.  Meanwhile  commerce  was 
rolling  up.  The  total  of  imports  and  exports  in  1800 
was  $162,000,000.  In  1807,  the  year  before  the  Embargo, 
the  total  was  $246,000,000. 

The  people  at  large  felt  that  this  abundant  growth  was 


Jeffersonian  Repiiblica7iis7n. 


59 


largely  due  to  political  conditions.  They  saw  the  na-  Triumphs  of 
tional  debt  being  reduced  every  day,  and  at  the  same  tio^n^  mmistra- 
time  the  vexatious  excise  taxes  remitted.  Government 
was  conducted  economically.  There  was  no  longer  any 
apprehension  of  war.  The  national  honor  had  been  bril- 
liantly defended  against  the  Tripolitan  pirates.  The 
West  was  secure,  as  New  Orleans  was  in  our  hands,  and 
a  vast  territory  was  added  to  the  national  domain.  All 
this  the  Republi- 
can administration 
had  done.  And  so 
it  was  easy  to  infer 
that  it  had  also  in- 
creased population 
and  trade.  On  New 
Year's  Day,  1802, 
the  president  re- 
ceived a  present 
sent  him  by  the 
farmers  of  western 
Massachusetts.  It 
was  a  cheese 
weighing  1,235 
pounds,  and  was 
inscribed,  "The 
greatest  cheese  in 
America — for  the 
greatest  man  in  America. ' '  That  was  the  general  sen- 
timent, as  plainly  appeared  at  the  election  of  1804. 

In  1800,  Jefferson  had  seventy-three  electoral  votes  and 
Adams  sixty-five.      In   1804,  Jefferson  had  one  hundred   Election  of  1804. 
sixty-two    electors    and    Pinckney,    the    Federalist   can-   Federalists. 
didate,  had  fourteen.       Only  Connecticut  ( ' '  the  land  of 
steady  habits " ) ,    Delaware,   and   a   part    of  Maryland 


Faneuil  Hall,  Boston. 


i6o  The  Growth  of  the  American  Natioii. 


Philosophy  of 

Jefferson's 

triumph. 

McMaster,  III. 


Democrac}-  not 
incompatible 
with  strong 
government. 


were  left  to  the  once  powerful  party  of  Hamilton  and 
Adams. 

Jefferson  explained  his  sweeping  triumph  on  the 
ground  that  the  Federalists  had  come  over  to  him  in 
masses.  He  had  won  his  fight  for  republicanism,  and 
the  nation  was  with  him.  Others  insist,  on  the  contrary, 
that  the  Republican  party  had  become  nationalized. 

Both  are  probably  largely  correct.  As  has  been  said, 
a  general  advance  in  democracy  characterized  the  age. 
The  nation  was  becoming  democratic  in  ideas,  methods, 
and  social  usages. 

But  this  flood  of  democracy  was  by  no  means  republi- 
can in  the  Jeffersonian  sense.  It  was  not  and  is  not  at  all 
incompatible  with  strong  government.  Jefferson  was  its 
absolute  master — as  was  Jackson  at  a  later  day.  And 
it  is  entirely  true  that  the  logic  of  circumstances  brought 
the   Republican  administration  to  Federalist  principles. 

In  short,  the  nation  by  irresistible  sweep  was  becom- 
ing a  democracy.  But  the  republican  democracy  just 
as  inevitably  became  national.  The  ideas  of  Hamilton 
were  wrought  out  by  Jefferson  and  Gallatin. 


/ 


i 


CHAPTER  XII. 
Jefferson's  foreign  policy. 

References.— Schouler  ;  McMaster ;  Henry  Adams  (he 
treats  this  subject  at  length)  ;  Statesmen  Series  :  Jefferso7t, 
Gallatin^  John  Quincy  Adams. 

Jefferson's  ideas  as  to  war  and  commerce  were  as   ,  ^ 

^   _  _  ^  Jeirerson  s 

original  and  positive  as  might  have  been  expected  from  theories  as  to 
so  versatile  a  philosopher.  He  was  far  in  advance  of  his 
age,  or,  for  that  matter,  of  our  age,  in  regarding  war  as 
a  mere  relic  of  barbarism,  which  civilized  society  should 
have  enough  wisdom  to  avoid.  No  war,  he  held,  was 
justifiable  unless  a  defensive  one.  For  this  reason  he  was 
strongly  opposed  to  a  permanent  army  and  navy.  An 
army  he  thought  needless,  dangerous,  and  expensive. 
The  militia  of  the  states  would  be  quite  sufficient  to  protect 
us  from  attack.  A  navy,  except  what  might  be  needed 
to  defend  our  harbors,  was  liable  to  all  the  objections  he 
brought  against  an  army,  and  besides  was  very  likely  to 
embroil  us  needlessly  in  foreign  quarrels.  The  gallant 
little  squadron  which  Adams  had  created,  Jefferson 
wished  to  reduce  to  a  peace  footing  at  once.  He  pro- 
posed to  pay  off  the  officers  and  men,  and  to  lay  up  the 
ships  if  possible  in  the  east  branch  of  the  Potomac,  in 
charge  of  a  single  man.  That,  he  thought,  would  be 
both  cheap  and  safe. 

,    Could  he  have  directed  society  absolutely  according   His  theories  as 
to  his  preferences,  Jefferson  would  have  had   no  foreign   to  commerce, 
commerce  at  all.     Writing  of  the  United  States  in  1785, 
he  said  :      ' '  Were  I  to  indulge  my  own  theory,  I  should 

161 


1 62  The  Growth  of  the  Americmi  Nation. 

wish  them  to  practice  neither  commerce  nor  navigation, 
Jefferson's  but  to  Stand,  with  resDcct  to  Europe,  precisely  on  the 

Works,  I.,  465.  . 

footing  of  China.      We  should  thus  avoid  wars,  and  all 
our  citizens  would  be  husbandmen. 

But  of  course  he  recognized  these  ideas  as  Utopian 
dreams.  In  fact,  the  new  nation  had  developed  a  large 
and  increasing  commerce,  and  this  at  once  brought  us 
in  touch  with  the  rest  of  the  world.  What,  then,  should 
be  our  policy  as  to  foreign  relations  ? 
'^  ^    Jefferson's    plan    was    formulated    in    the    well-known 

Foreign  policy,  words  of  his  iuaugural,  peace  and  honest  friendship 
with  all  nations,  entangling  alliances  with  none."  This, 
of  course,  was  just  the  policy  so  strongly  urged  by  Wash- 
ington in  his  farewell  address  :  ' '  The  great  rule  of  con- 
duct for  us  in  regard  to  foreign  Nations  is,  in  extending 
our  commercial  relations,    to  have  with   them  as    little 

political  connection   as   possible 'Tis    our 

true  policy  to  steer  clear  of  permanent  alliances  with  any 
portion  of  the  foreign  world."  These  ideas  of  Wash- 
ington and  Jefferson  have  now  become  traditional  prin- 
ciples of  American  diplomacy,  and  form  one  phase  of 
what  is  loosely  called  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  As  our 
only  relations  with  foreign  countries  should  be  com- 
mercial, Jefferson  was  inclined  to  doubt  the  necessity  of 
a  diplomatic  service. 
\\         But  if  our  rights  should  be  wantonly  attacked,  what 

coercion."^  '  should  be  our  remedy?  In  his  view  we  had  an  easy  and 
effective  means  of  coercion,  without  resorting  to  war. 
Our  commerce  he  regarded  as  absolutely  essential  to 
Europe.  This,  then,  we  should  grant  to  friends,  and 
withhold  from  assailants.  Thus  by  the  mere  compulsion 
of  their  interests  nations  would  be  constrained  to  do  us 
justice.     Jefferson  called  this  "peaceable  coercion."  f^ 

These  opinions  of  the  Republican  president  the  course 


Jefferson' s  Foreign  Policy.  163 


of  events  made  to  be  no  mere  speculative  theories  of  a 
closet  philosopher.  They  were  the  working  principles  of 
administration  for  a  series  of  years,  and  had  profound 
consequences  on  the  issues  of  history. 

When  Mr.  Jefferson  became  president  he  found  the 
United  States  already  embroiled  with  Tripoli.  It  is  not  >v?r  with 
easy  for  us  to  realize  that  a  hundred  years  ago  our 
country,  in  common  with  Europe,  paid  these  Moham- 
medan pirates  an  annual  bribe  to  secure  the  safety  of  our 
commerce  in  the  Mediterranean,  besides  occasional  large 
sums  as  ransom  for  unfortunate  mariners  who  had  been 
captured  and  made  slaves.  In  1801  the  pasha  of  Trip- 
oli complained  that  the  Americans  had  not  been  as  gen- 
erous to  him  as  to  the  rulers  of  Tunis  and  Algiers,  and  so 
declared  war.  A  squadron  was  sent  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean and  for  several  years  carried  on  active  hostilities 
with  the  Tripolitans.  The  city  of  Tripoli  was  bombarded 
several  times,  and  in  1805  the  pasha  was  glad  to  make 
peace.  There  was  no  more  tribute  paid  to  that  nest  of 
robbers.  Our  little  navy  in  these  operations  displayed 
some  of  those  qualities  which  a  few  years   later  were  to 

jnake  its  renown  so  brilliant. 
^   ^  Indeed,  it  is  to  the  corsairs  of  Algiers  that  the  Amer-   q^.  j^^^.^ 

^ ican  navy  is  due.  The  United  States  had  no  ships  of  "^v>'  ^794- 
war  during  Washington's  first  term.  But  the  depre- 
dations of  the  Algerines  made  it  plain  that  cannons  afloat 
were  needed  if  we  were  to  have  any  foreign  commerce 
under  our  own  flag.  Accordingly,  in  1794  Congress 
authorized  the  construction  of  six  frigates.  These  were 
wisely  planned  to  be  heavier  and  stronger  than  any 
European  ships  of  the  same  class.  They  were  the 
United  States,  Constitution,  Constellatio7i,  Presidejit, 
Congress,  and  Chesapeake — names  famous  in  our  department, 
naval   annals.     The   navy   department   was    created    in 


P.  133. 

The  navy 


164  The  Growth  of  the  Americaii  Nation. 


Reduction  of 
the  navy. 


Renewal  of  ' 
the  European 
war,  1803. 


Napoleon 
victorious  on 
land,  England 
on  the  sea. 


Need  of 
colonial        / 
products. 


1798,  on  occasion  of  the  trouble  with  France,  and  at  the 
same  time  other  vessels  were  added.  The  act  providing 
for  a  peace  establishment  was  passed  the  day  before 
Adams's  term  expired.  By  this  act  the  president  was 
authorized  to  retain  thirteen  ships,  six  being  in  commis- 
sion. The  large  reduction  in  the  number  of  officers 
made  it  possible  to  select  those  who  had  proved  their 
good  qualities,  and  so  was  formed  the  force  which  was 
so  efficient  in  the  war  with  Tripoli  and  later  with 
England. 

In  1803  the  war  between  England  and  France  was 
renewed.  The  peace  of  the  previous  year  proved  a 
mere  truce.  And  from  this  time  until  181 5  there  raged 
a  struggle  which  became  world  wide.  Nation  after 
nation  was  dragged  in.  Neutrality  in  Europe  became 
impossible. 

On  land,  Napoleon  was  invincible.  He  gave  law  from 
Gibraltar  to  Berlin.  No  enemy  remained  whom  the 
French  armies  could  reach.  On  the  ocean,  England 
was  equally  invincible.  Her  fleets  swept  the  waters  of 
every  sea.  There  was  no  hostile  navy  which  she  did 
not  shatter.     Hostile  commerce  was  impossible. 

But  the  sea-shore  was  the  limit  of  battle.  The  armies 
of  Napoleon  could  not  leave  the  coast.  The  fleets  of 
England  were  confined  to  the  water.  Still  each  strug- 
gled to  assail  the  other.  England  held  the  ports  of 
France  and  her  allies  in  strict  blockade.  And  Napoleon 
forbade  any  European  trade  with  his  insular  enemy. 

But  if  England  needed  the  continental  market  for  her 
wares,  France  and  Spain  needed  the  produce  of  their 
colonies.  The  sugar  of  the  West  India  Islands,  the 
coffee,  hides,  and  indigo  of  South  America,  the  silver  of 
Mexico  and  Peru,  the  products  of  China  and  Manila, 
all  were  wanted  in  Europe.     And  if  the  British  navy 


Jefferson  s  Fo7'eign  Policy.  165 


could  destroy  this  commerce,  the  resources  of  the  conti- 
nent, and  hence  of  France,  would  be  seriously  crippled. 
r  By  the  rules  of  the  old  colonial  system  the  trade  between  -phe  direct 
/  a  European  nation  and  its  colonies  was  forbidden  to  alien  forbrdden!^^*^^ 
I  ships.  But  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  revolutionary  wars, 
;  France,  seeing  that  her  ships  could  no  longer  keep  the 
j  sea,  opened  all  her  ports  to  neutrals.  England,  how- 
/     ever,  insisted  that  a  trade  which  was   illegal  in  time  of 

peace  could  not  be  legalized  in  time  of  war.     Hence  any   ^^^p*  "^' 
neutral  ship  carrying  a  cargo  directly  between  a  bellig- 
\     erent  and  a  colony  of  that  belligerent  was  subject  to 
'      capture. 

\?^  But  it  was  admitted  that  trade  between  a  neutral  port  .■  Breakin 
and  that  of  a  belligerent  was  lawful.  And  if  so,  did  it  the  voyage." 
matter  what  the  cargo  was  ?  Suppose  merchandise  was 
shipped  from  Havana  to  New  York,  was  there  landed 
and  duly  entered  at  the  custom-house,  was  then  imme- 
diately reladen  in  the  same  ship  and  taken  to  Spain. 
Was  such   a   voyap^e   illegal  ?     The    Ene-lish   admiralty   Decision  of 

1-11,  ,  1  -11  ,       LordStowell 

courts  aeciaed  that  such  a  procedure  was  strictly  lepfal.    in  the  case  of 

T         J-  .1.  J      u      1  L  •  11      the /'^//j,  April 

Landing  the  goods  broke  the  voyage  in  two,  and  each   29, 1800. 
by    itself  was    entirely    legitimate.     This    was    in    1800. 
And  the  ministry  at  that  time  expressly  approved  the 
principle  involved. 

Then  came  the  peace,  and  the  whole  matter  dropped 
into  abeyance.  But  when  the  war  was  renewed  in  1803,  trade 
the  American  merchants  were  quick  to  seize  the  advan- 
tages of  neutrals.  Soon  not  a  French  or  Spanish  or 
Dutch  ship  was  afloat.  And  American  shipping 
swarmed  in  every  sea.  They  were  loaded  with  the  prod- 
ucts of  every  clime,  sailed  to  the  United  States,  broke 
the  voyage  by  landing  cargo,  immediately  reshipped  it, 
and  proceeded  on  their  way.  Thus  England  saw  her- 
self deprived  of  the  full  effect  of  her  naval  supremacy. 


The  carrying 


1 


1 66  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


.l\' 


Decision 
Lord  Stowell 
in  the  case  of 
the  Essex, 
1805. 


The  decision 
unfair. 


Paper  block- 
ades. 


Order  in 
Council,  1806. 


Her  enemies  prospered  as  in  time  of  peace.      And  her 
own  courts  had  made  the  process  legal. 

But  when  this  was  clear,  the  English  admiralty  courts 
took  a  new  position.  In  the  case  of  the  Essex,  in  1805, 
Lord  Stowell  reversed  his  own  decision  of  1800,  and 
held  that  the  intent  of  the  voyage  must  be  considered. 
The  old  device  of  breaking  the  voyage,  he  now  declared, 
was  an  obvious  evasion.  The  voyage  from  the  United 
States  to  a  belligerent  port  with  belligerent  goods  was 
illegal.  Ship  and  cargo  were  condemned.  And  at  once 
American  ships  by  the  score  were  captured  and  made 
prize. 

This  decision  was  perhaps  equitable  in  a  rough  sort  of 
way.  But  it  was  making  new  law,  not  interpreting 
the  law  as  it  was.  And  it  would  have  kept  closer  to  the 
equities  if  it  had  rather  been  announced  as  the  policy  of 
the  administration,  with  fair  notice  to  neutrals.  But 
justice  to  neutrals  was  not  a  matter  of  concern  to  British 
ministers  or  judges  just  at  that  time.  To  hurt  the  ene- 
mies of  England  and  at  the  same  time  to  make  fat  prizes 
at  no  matter  whose  expense,  in  those  days  seemed  to  the 
people  of  Great  Britain  merely  brilliant  statecraft.  The 
Americans  called  it  piracy. 

However  this  may  have  been,  the  next  series  of  steps 
taken  by  the  belligerent  nations  was  an  audacious  vio- 
lation of  international  law,  and  led  to  a  policy  of  spolia- 
tion on  lawful  American  commerce  most  high  handed 
and  outrageous. 

In  May,  1806,  a  British  Order  in  Council  put  the 
whole  coast  of  Europe  in  blockade,  from  Brest  to  the 
Elbe,  some  800  miles.  There  could  be  no  trade  to  any 
of  these  ports  without  a  British  license  previously  pro- 
cured''and  paid  for. 

The  French  reply  was  delayed,  but  it  was  sufficiently 


Jefferson' s  Foreign  Policy.  167 


emphatic.  November  21,  1806,  Napoleon  issued  what 
became  known  as  "the  Beriin  decree."  He  happened  to  Je^^fr^f^is^. 
be  in  that  city  after  his  crushing  victory  over  Prussia. 
In  this  famous  document  Napoleon  proclaimed  that  the 
whole  coast  of  the  British  Islands  was  in  a  state  of  block- 
ade. All  trade  with  those  islands,  or  with  their  products 
or  the  products  of  their  colonies,  was  forbidden.  This 
decree  put  American  commerce  at  the  mercy  of  French 
privateers. 

The    British    Order  in   Council  of  January   7,    1807,    order  in  Coun- 
professed  to  be  in  retaliation  for  the  Berlin  decree,  and   ^' '  ^  °^' 
simply  forbade  all  traffic  with  ports  of  France  or  her 
allies,  to  any  nation  whatsoever.     Subsequent  decrees  of 
Napoleon  and  British  Orders  in  Council  were  only  sup- 
plementary to  these  extraordinary  documents. 

Thus   was  constituted    a   paper  blockade  of  all    the  -phe  American 
European  shores.      England  could  not  spare  a  third  of  dilemma. 
the  ships  necessary  for  a  real  blockade  of  the  coasts  of 
her  enemies.     And   Napoleon  had  no  navy.      But  the 
American  mariner  was  in  this  dilemma  :  if  he  sailed  to 
or  from  any  British  port,  he  was  liable  to  capture  by  the 
French  ;    if  he  sailed  to  or  from  any  non-British  port, 
he  was  quite  sure  to  be  made  a  prize  by  the  English. 
It  reminds  one  of  the  colored  minister's  assertion  that 
only  two  roads  lead  from  this  world  to  the  next,  * '  the      w 
broad  and  narrow  road  that  leads  to  destruction,  and  the       '^ 
narrow  and  broad  road  that  leads  to  damnation." 

But  commercial  restrictions  were  not  the  sole  cause  of 
foreign  complications  for  Jefferson.  We  had  another 
grievance,  this  time  exclusively  against  England. 

The  vast  wars   of  that  nation  made  it  impossible   to   ^^^  impress- 
man    her   great   navy   with    volunteers   alone.      In    any   ^|"^g°f 
British  port  the  press  gang  was  always  at  work.      Sailors 
were  seized  at  their  lodgings,  in  the  streets,  from  the     ^"^  ^'  ^^^' 


1 68  The   Growth  of  the  A^nericayi  Nation. 


British  sailors 
in  American 
ships. 


\ 


England 
disregards 
naturalization 
and   certificates 
of  citizenship. 


Hard  to  tell  an 
American  from 
an  Englishman. 


deck  of  a  merchant  ship,  and  hurried  on  board  a  man-of- 
war.  On  the  high  seas  British  merchantmen  were 
stopped  and  their  crews  depleted. 

Had  this  been  all,  we  should  have  had  no  cause  to 
complain.  But  the  British  claimed  the  right  to  stop  any 
merchant  ship  of  any  nation  on  the  high  seas  and  take 
from  it  any  British  subjects  among  her  crew.  And  the 
trouble  was  aggravated  by  the  fact  that  many  British 
sailors  were  actually  found  in  the  American  service.  The 
enormous  expansion  of  American  commerce  made  it 
impossible  for  American  sailors  to  be  found  in  sufficient 
numbers.  At  the  same  time  wages  in  the  American 
service  became  very  high — some  three  times  the  British 
scale.  In  consequence,  sailors  left  English  ships  in 
every  American  port.  They  enlisted  by  thousands  in 
the  American  merchant  marine,  and  were  found  under 
the  American  flag  the  world  around. 

The  arbitrary  impressment  of  Englishmen  from  the 
deck  of  an  American  ship  was  sufficiently  aggravating. 
But  that  was  not  all.  Many  of  these  sailors  had  become 
naturalized  citizens  of  the  United  States.  England, 
however,  claimed  that  without  her  consent  no  British 
subject  could  give  up  his  allegiance.  And  so  British 
naval  officers  gave  no  heed  to  naturalization  papers. 

Further,  the  papers  which  sailors  carried  certifying  to 
their  American  citizenship  were  easily  transferred  from 
hand  to  hand.  And  they  were  easily  forged.  There  is 
little  doubt  that  very  many  of  these  fraudulent  certifi- 
cates were  afloat.  And  knowing  this  fact  British  officers 
were  inclined  to  disregard  protections  altogether. 

Another  difficulty  was  that  it  was  not  always  easy  to 
tell  an  American  from  a  British  sailor.  Honest  mistakes 
doubtless  were  made.  But  as  the  need  for  men  grew 
pressing,  it  is  more  than  likely  that  a  British  officer  was 


Jefferson' s  Foreigji  Policy.  169 


always  convinced   that   any  good-looking    and  stalwart 
seaman  on  an  American  ship  was  surely  an  Englishman. 

In  these  ways  a  large  number  of  Americans  were  im- 
pressed into  the  British  navy.  How  many  it  would  not 
be  easy  to  tell. 

Mr.  Jefferson  struggled  with  these  outrages  on  Ameri- 
can commerce  and  nationality  as  well  as  he  could.  He  Jefferson's 
had  no  idea  of  war,  and  sedulously  avoided  strengthen- 
ing the  army  and  navy.  But  there  was  a  long  series  of 
diplomatic  remonstrances,  with  nothing  accomplished. 
British  officers  learned  to  look  on  the  Americans  with 
contempt,  as  a  nation  which  would  not  fight. 

In  1807  British  arrogance  seemed  to  reach  its  climax. 
The  American  friq^ate  Chesapeake  was  overhauled  on  the   Outrage  on 

1-1  1    1  It  if  r  1       T-.    •   •   ,  \\\&  Chesapeake, 

high  seas,  and  three  alleged  deserters  from  the  British  navy   1807. 
'    were  taken  from  its  crew.      Unfortunately  the  frigate  was 
not  prepared  for  action — a  fact  disgraceful  to  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  navy  department.      Popular  indignation 
was  hot  from   one  end  of  the  land  to  the  other.      The  ^ 
people  wanted  war. 

But  this  was   Jefferson's  chance  to  try  his  scheme  of 

It       \      r^  T->-«  -I-  The  Embargo, 

Y  ' '  peaceable  coercion.       As  Great  Britain  was  unwilling  to   December, 


make  adequate  reparation,  the  president  induced  Congress 
to  pass,  in  December,  1807,  ^^  ^^t  declaring  an  Embargo 
on  all  American  shipping.  Our  ports  were  to  be  sealed 
absolutely  to  foreign  trade.  Jefferson  was  sure  that  the 
loss  of  American  commerce  would  bring  Great  Britain 
to  terms.  Meanwhile  a  number  of  gun-boats  were  con- 
structed for  the  defense  of  our  harbors.  The  navy  was 
something  for  which  the  administration  had  no  use.  It 
was  planned  to  lay  up  the  frigates  in  case  of  war,  and 
merely  to  retire  into  our  shell,  like  a  turtle. 

The  Embargo  was  enforced  with  great  difficulty.      But 
it  ruined  the  commerce  of  New  England  and  the  Middle 


1807. 


lyo  The   Growth  of  the  America?i  Nation. 


States.     The  price  of  wheat  fell  from  two  dollars  a  bushel 
Effects  of  the      x.o  seventv-five  cents.     And  e^eneral  distress  succeeded 

Embargo.  ■'     ^  ^  ^ 

the  abounding  prosperity  of  Jefferson's  early  years.  The 
effect  on  Great  Britain  turned  out  to  be  inappreciable. 
At  all  events,  so  far  as  modifying  the  political  action  of 
that  nation  was  concerned,  it  was  about  as  effective  as  a 
boy's  pop-gun.  And  meanwhile  it  had  to  be  enforced 
by  bayonets  and  men-of-war.  Various  supplementary 
acts  of  Congress  extended  the  powers  of  the  president, 
The  Force  Act.  until  the  Force  Act  of  January,  1809,  gave  him  almost 
the  authority  of  a  dictator. 

This  extreme  measure  produced  a  e^reat  revulsion  of 

Failure  and  .  . 

repeal  of  the       popular  feeling.     People  in  New  England  began  to  talk  of 
secession.     The  Republican  leaders,  more  sensible  than 
the  Federalists  ten  years  before,  yielded  to  the  storm, 
and,  to  the  great  discontent  of  Jefferson,  the  Embargo 
was  repealed,  the  repeal  to  take  effect  March  4,  1809. 

Meanwhile  the  secretary  of  state,  Madison,  had  been 
elected  president. 

ii    ^  Jefferson  retired  to  Monticello.      His  great  popularity 
^'had  vanished.     The  brilliant  success  of  his  first  term  was 
Jefferson.  totally  ccHpsed  by  the  disastrous  failure  of  his  pet  meas- 

ure, the  Embargo. 

In  a  time  of  profound  peace,  Jefferson  would  have  been  a 
president  of  unbounded  success.  But  it  was  chimerical  to 
suppose  that  force  could  yet  be  discarded  in  international 
relations.  His  systematic  penuriousness  to  the  army 
and  navy  made  it  possible  for  France  and  England  to  in- 
sult us  with  impunity.  His  scheme  of  commercial  re- 
prisals was  hopelessly  futile. 

Jefferson's  diplomacy  scores  one  brilliant  success — the 
acquisition  of  Louisiana — and  that  was  an  accident.  The 
rest  was  a  series  of  mortifying  failures.  To  him  more  than 
to  any  one  else  we  owe  the  disasters  of  the  War  of  181 2. 


Foreign 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

THE    NATIONAL    REPUBLICANS    AND    THEIR    WAR    WITH 
ENGLAND. 

References. — Schouler;  McMaster;  Henry  Adams;  States- 
men Series  :  Madison,  Clay,  John  Quincy  Adams. 

The  foreign  relations  of  the  United  States  were  now 
in  a  most  perplexing  shape.  Each  belligerent  had  [aJf^'^"^'"' 
heaped  insult  and  outrage  on  the  Americans,  and  there 
was  ample  cause  for  war  with  both  France  and  England. 
Commercial  reprisal  had  failed,  at  least  in  the  form  of  a 
universal  embargo.  And  nobody  knew  just  what  ought 
to  come  next. 

An  additional  difficulty  was  a  lack  of  leaders  in  whom  t  j^  r 
the  people  placed  confidence.  Jefferson  had  with-  headers, 
drawn,  and  besides  he  was  discredited  in  the  public 
mind.  No  president  has  ever  had  more  absolute 
authority  with  Congress  than  the  philosopher  of  Monti- 
cello  in  1801.  And  no  president  has  ever  had  less  in- 
fluence with  the  legislature  than  the  author  of  the 
Embargo  in  1809.  The  new  president,  Madison,  was 
slow,  hesitating,  irresolute.  The  government  for  a 
couple  of  years  merely  drifted,  without  a  definite  policy. 

When   the    Embargo  was   repealed,    an  act   took   its 
place  prescribing  non-intercourse  with  both  France  and   Non-inter- 
England,  with  the  promise  of  relaxation  in  favor  of  either   pmn^c^eTnd 
belligerent  who  might  cease  from  the  policy  of  spoliation.    ^"s:iand. 
In  the  following  year  (1810)  this  was  replaced  by  an  act 
merely  agreeing  that    in    case    of  a    withdrawal    of  the 

171 


172  The  Growth  of  the  Americari  Nation. 


Napoleon  pro- 
fesses to  with- 
draw his 
decrees. 


The  Young 
RepubUcans. 


offensive  measures  by  either  nation  non-intercourse 
would  be  revived  as  against  the  other.  Accordingly 
Napoleon  professed  to  rescind  his  decrees.  But  Great 
Britain  insisted  that  this  was  not  done  in  good  faith,  and 
so  declined  to  withdraw  the  Orders  in  Council.  There- 
fore non-intercourse  with  that  power  was  again  adopted 
by  the  United  States. 

But  a  new  generation  was  coming  on  the  scene.   Young 


men,  brought  up,  to  be  sure,  in  the  tenets  of  Jeffersonian 
republicanism,  yet  filled  with  the  fire  of  youth,  and  free 
from  the  prejudices  and  animosities  of  the  early  political 
strife,  were  pressing  to  the  front.  The  outrageous  acts 
of  Great  Britain  and  the  impotence  alike  of  diplomatic 
remonstrance  and  of  ' '  peaceable  coercion  ' '  had  caused 
a  turmoil  of  indignation  and  disgust.  Among  the 
Young  Republicans  Jefferson's  peace  policy  found  little 
sympathy. 

The  Twelfth  Congress,  which  met  in  December,  181 1, 


The  N^ational  Republicans. 


173 


The  new 
Congress. 


was  full  of  this  new  blood.  Henry  Clay,  of  Kentucky, 
Calhoun,  of  South  Carolina,  Felix  Grundy,  of  Tennessee, 
Cheves  and  Lowndes,  of  South  Carolina,  were  among 
the  foremost.  Clay  was  chosen  speaker  by  a  vote  of 
seventy-five  to  thirty-eight  for  a  peace  candidate.  The 
Republicans  who  favored  a  vigorous  national  policy 
henceforth  had  a  leader. 

This  change  in  the  composition   of  Congress  meant  what  it  meant. 
much  more  than  merely  the  appearance  of  a  new  set  of 
politicians.     It  meant  that  the  people  were  wearied  of 
what  seemed  a    timorous  and  feeble   administration  of 
And 
that 


foreign  affairs. 


it  meant  also 
the  new  western 
states,  Kentucky, 
Tennessee,  Ohio, 
had  come  to  have 
decisive  weight  in 
the  Union.  The 
population  of  the 
republic  was  nearly 
twice  what  it  had 
been  in  1789.  It 
was  still  growing 
rapidly,  and  the 
center  of  population 
was  steadily  moving 
toward  the  West. 

The  new  Con- 
gress wasted  no 
time,  but  at  once 
took  measures  looking  toward  war.  Provision  was  made 
for  increasing  the  army,  for  strengthening  the  navy,  for 
providing  revenue.      In  the   navy  bills  only  was   there 


1772; 


Isaac  Chauncey. 
died,  1840.     Entered  navy  as  lieu- 


Born,     ...  ,       , 

served    in 

given  command  on  the  lakes,  1812;  fitted  out 
a  squadron  on  Lake  Ontario;  aided  land 
forces  in  capture  of  York  (Toronto),  and  de- 
feated British  squadron,  1813. 


Preparation  for 
war. 


174 


The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Madison's  war 
message,  June 
I, 1812. 


The  decla- 
ration, June 


Grounds  of 
opposition. 


lack  of  energy.  The  Republicans  had  been  trained  to 
distrust  that  branch  of  the  service,  and  felt  hopeless  of 
success  on  the  ocean  against  the  overwhelming  power  of 
Great  Britain.  Clay  and  his  friends  had  their  eye  on 
Canada. 

In  the  spring  of  18 12  an  embargo  was  laid  for  ninety 
days.  And  before  that  time  expired,  President  Madi- 
son sent  to  Congress  his  message  detailing  the  grievances 
-^of  the  United  States  and  advising  war.  A  bill  to  that 
effect  was  at  once  introduced,  and  passed  the  House  in 
twenty-four  hours.  The  Senate  debated  it  nearly  two 
weeks.      But  it  became  a  law  on  the  i8th  of  June. 

The  opposition  in  Congress  was  made  by  the  Feder- 
alists, of  whom  there  were  only  six  in  the  Senate  and 
thirty-seven  in  the  House,  and  by  the  dyed-in-the-wool 
Jeffersonian  Republicans.  The  vote  in  the  Lower  House 
was  seventy-nine  to  forty-nine,  in  the  Senate  nineteen  to 
thirteen.  All  the  states  east  of  Pennsylvania  were 
opposed  to  the  declaration.  That  state  and  all  west  and 
south  favored  war. 

The  grounds  of  opposition  were  various.  First  was 
the  lack  of  preparation.  We  were  "rushing,"  it  was 
said,  ' '  headlong  into  difficulties,  with  little  calculation  of 
the  means  and  little  concern  for  the  consequences." 
Then,  too,  it  was  held  that  France  and  England  were 
equally  at  fault,  and,  the  high  Federalists  added,  Eng- 
land was  in  the  right  in  her  wars  and  ought  to  be  sus- 
tained, not  attacked.  Indeed,  the  sycophancy  of  the 
Federalists  to  England  through  all  this  matter  was  nau- 
seating, and  was  what  finally  destroyed  that  party.  The 
eastern  men  asserted,  also,  that  the  Republican  Embargo 
and  Non-Intercourse  had  already  nearly  ruined  com- 
merce, and  that  war  would  put  an  end  to  it.  Finally,  it 
was  declared  that  there  really  was  less  ground  for  war 


The  National  Republicayis.  175 

than  there  had  been  in    1807 — which  perhaps  was  quite 
true. 

While  there  could  be  no  doubt  that  the  country  was  pi^ns  of  the 
in  no  proper  position  to  carry  on  war,  owing  to  the  sys-  ^^^^  party, 
tematic  unfriendliness  of  the  Republican  administrations 
to  the  army  and  navy,  still  the  leaders  of  the  war  party 
were  not  without  definite  plans.  Napoleon  was  now  at 
the  height  of  his  power.  It  seemed  likely  that  he  would 
win  in  his  long  struggle  with  England,  and,  at  all  events, 
he  would  be  sure  to  divert  the  main  attention  of  the 
enemy  from  America.  In  the  meantime  it  would  be  an 
easy  matter,  Clay  thought,  to  overrun  Canada,  and  to 
hold  it  either  as  a  permanent  conquest  or  as  security  for 
an  honorable  peace. 

The  lack  of  preparation  was  the  most  serious  fact.  Not  Lack  of  prepa- 
only  was  the  army  poorly  organized  and  the  navy  weak,  ^^^'°"- 
but  the  harbors  were  not  sufficiently  fortified,  and  the 
financial  system  in  confusion.  The  charter  of  the  Bank 
of  the  United  States  had  expired  in  181 1,  and  the  Re- 
publicans, in  accordance  with  their  traditional  policy,  had 
refused  to  renew  it.  And  thus  the  national  treasury  had 
no  financial  agency  at  the  very  time  it  was  most  needed. 

War  was  declared,  as  has  been  said,  on  the  1 8th  of  Revocation  of 
June.  And  on  the  23d  the  Orders  in  Council  were  re-  couScii^'^^ '" 
voked.     But  it  was  too  late. 

The  plan  for  the  conquest  of  Canada  proved  a  failure,    ^j^^  invasion 
The  first  invasion  was  from  Detroit.     General  Hull,  of  of  Canada. 
Michigan  Territory,  a  revolutionary  veteran  and  a  very 
estimable  gentleman,  crossed  into  Canada  with  a  respect- 
able force  and  attacked    the    enemy  with  a  formidable 
proclamation.      But  as  he  did  not  follow  this  up  by  vigor- 
ous  military  movements,  he   found  his  communications 
threatened  by  his  more  active  opponent,  and  so  retired   bull's  fiasco, 
precipitately  to  Detroit.     Here  he  was  promptly  followed 


176  The  Growth  of  the  A7nerican  Nation. 

by  the  British  and  their  Indian  aUies,  and  when  the 
American  general  found  that  actual  cannon  balls  were  be- 
ing hurled  at  his  post,  he  surrendered  without  firing  a 
shot.      His  excuse  was  his  apprehensions  for  the  safety  of 

the  women  and  child- 
ren at  the  hands  of  the 
Indians.  Thus  instead 
of  conquering  Canada 
the  Americans  lost 
Michigan.* 

On  the  Niagara  fron- 
tier General  Van  Rens- 
selaer   commanded    a 
Thefaiiureat      ^^|^^^|H^Kv -^^^^^^^1  Considerable    army, 

Queenstown.         ^^^^^^^Kl;;i^.  'j^l^^^H    .  1         at  A7      1 

largely  JN  ew  York 
militia.  These  soldiers 
were  eager  to  be  led 
against  the  enemy,  and 

Stephen  Decatur.  ,1  t 

Born,i779;  died,  1820.     Entered  navy  in  1798 ;  ^^     ^^^    general    prO- 

served   with  distinction  in  the  naval  war  r^f^f^Ar^A       ^ c\       al-far^L' 

with  France;  made  a  brilliant  record  in  the  *-^cacu       LU       atiacK 

war  with  Tripoli;    in   1812,  in  the   frigate  Onp^f^nefo^im         Rnf    af 

6^«^^^rf6-/a^^.,^captured  the  British  frilate  ^UeenStOWn.        tJut    at- 

Macedoniayi ;  in   1814,  in  the  frigate /'r(?5/-  f-2>*-     fVio      orIiron/-«      \\^A 

dent,  was  captured  by  four  British  frigates,  ^^^     ^^^      aQVanCC      HaO 

after  a  desperate  resistance;  in  i8is,  com-  nx-i^cLce^A  onrl  iiroc  /-1r»c^Kr 

manded  a  squadron  which  compelled  Al-  CrOSSCd  and  WaS  ClOSCly 

giers,  Tunis,  and  Tripoli  to  come  to  terms,  f^nrrcio-p'rl       fVip>    mil  i  f  i  q 

He  fell  in  a  duel  with  Commodore  Barron,  ^"S'^S^^"'     ^ne    m  1 1  1 1 1  a 

^^^°-  concluded  that  it  would 

be  illegal  to  send  them  over  the  frontier  and  so  refused 
to  march.  The  detachment  already  on  the  Canadian 
side  made  a  gallant  defense,  but  was  finally  overpowered 
and  obliged  to  surrender.  General  Van  Rensselaer  re- 
signed in  disgust. 

General  Smyth,  at  Buffalo,  succeeded  to  the  command 
on    the  Niagara,   and  his  words  were  valiant    enough. 

*  General  Hull  was  tried  by  court-martial  two  years  later,  and  dismissed 
from  the  service.  The  old  general  was  neither  a  traitor  nor  a  coward,  how- 
ever.    He  merely  was  not  made  of  sufficiently  stem  stuff  for  his  position. 


The  Natio7ial  Republican's. 


177 


**Come  on,  my  heroes,"  was  his  exhortation,  "and 
when  you  attack  the  enemy's  batteries,  let  your  rallying 
word  be,  '  The  cannon  lost  at  Detroit,  or  death.'  "  But 
they  got  neither.  After  a  few  feeble  attempts  to  land  on 
the  Canadian  side,  the  attack  was  abandoned  and  the 
volunteers  dismissed  to  their  homes.  General  Smyth 
also  was  cashiered.  He  afterwards  petitioned  Congress 
to  be  reinstated,  praying  for  the  privilege  of  ' '  dying  for 
his  country."      But  Congress  thought  it  inexpedient. 

There  was  also  a  series  of  campaigns  on  the  line  of 
Lake  Champlain — all  more  or  less 
mismanaged,  and  all  failures.  The 
main  trouble  at  the  outset  was  a 
lack  of  suitable  commanders.  The 
generals  were  mostly  politicians, 
the  "  invincibles  of  peace,"  who 
proved  sorry  substitutes  for  trained 
soldiers. . 

As  the  war  went  on  a  better 
military  organization  was  effected 
and  good  officers  were  found. 
Michigan  was  recovered  and  the 
British  army  of  the  West  totally 
defeated  by  General  William  Henry 
Harrison.  Scott,  Brown,  and  Rip- 
ley retrieved  the  defeat  at  Queens- 
town,  although  they  were  able  to 
make  no  extensive  conquests. 

Along  the  Atlantic  coast  the  British  directed  a  series 
of  paltry  raids.  The  city  of  Washington  was  taken  and 
the  public  buildings  burned,  by  an  act  of  wanton  vandal- 
ism. But  a  few  days  after,  a  similar  attack  on  Baltimore 
was  beaten  off.  All  this  amounted  to  nothing.  But 
later  a  strong  expedition  was  directed  against  Louisiana. 


The  failure  at 
Buffalo. 


Failures  in  the 
North. 


The  Americans 
begin  to  learn 
war. 


Oliver  Hazard  Perry. 
Born,  1785;  died,  1819.  En- 
tered navy,  1799 ;  served  in 
the  war  with  Tripoli ;  ap- 
pointed to  command  on 
Lake  Erie,  1813 ;  built  a 
squadron,  and  destroyed 
the  British  squadron  in  the 
battle  of  September,  1813. 


The  British  take 
Washington, 
but  are  repulsed 
at  Baltimore, 

1814. 


178 


The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Jackson's  vic- 
tory at  New 
Orleans,  Jan.  8, 
1815. 


Military  oper- 
ations a  failure. 


British 

invasions 

repulsed. 


Naval  victories. 


General  Andrew  Jackson,  who  had  already  distinguished 
himself  by  a  successful  campaign  against  the  hostile 
Alabama  Indians,  fortified  New  Orleans,  and  when  the 
British  troops  marched  against  his  intrenchments  he  re- 
pulsed them  with  great  slaughter.  This  was  the  last 
battle  of  the  war,  and  comforted  the  Americans  for  the 
ill  success  of  their  arms  elsewhere. 

The  plain  truth  is  that  on  land  the  war  was  a  failure. 
The  military  object  was  the  conquest  of  Canada.  But 
the  successive  attempts  at  invasion  were  so  haphazard 
and  feeble  that  success  was  out  of  the  question.  The 
only  rational  plan  would  have  been  to  concentrate  all  the 
possible  troops  on  the  northern  frontier  and  hurl  them 
straight  at  Montreal  and  Quebec.  There  was  the  key  to 
the  situation.  Canada  West  would  have  been  helpless  if 
cut  off  from  the  sea.  But  unfortunately  there  was  no 
brain  at  the  head  of  military  affairs,  and  so  our  force 
was  frittered  away  in  a  series  of  idle  frays  all  along  the 
line. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  British  failed  to  penetrate  our 
territory.  The  only  serious  attempts  at  invasion  were  at 
Plattsburgh  and  New  Orleans.  The  fate  of  the  latter 
has  been  mentioned.  On  Lake  Champlain  the  British 
flotilla  was  destroyed  in  a  desperate  naval  fight,  and  the 
invading  army  at  once  retreated. 

In  fact,  it  was  on  the  water  that  the  American  victories 
were  most  brilliant.  The  despised  little  navy  amazed 
everybody  by  winning  a  series  of  gallant  battles.  Only 
two  months  after  the  declaration  of  war  Captain  Hull  in 
the  Constitution  met  and  captured  the  British  frigate 
Guerriere,  Captain  Dacres.  The  latter  ship  had  made 
herself  especially  obnoxious  by  impressing  seamen,  and 
had  sailed  up  and  down  our  coast  with  her  name  painted 
on  her  mainsail,  as  a  defiance  to  the  American  navy.    In 


The  National  Republicans. 


179 


a  couple  of  hours  the  Guerriere  lay  a  wreck  under  Hull's   The  Guerri^re. 
guns. 

In  a  speech  in  the  House  of  Commons  a  member  had 
remarked,  * '  There  are  few  Americans  with  whom  one 
would  desire  a  close  acquaintance" — a  very  significant 
bit  of  British  arrogance.  Doubtless  Captain  Dacres 
would  have  echoed  the  sentiment. 

This  initial  victory  in  a  duel  of  single  vessels  was  fol- 
lowed by  others.      In  18 13  the  American  squadron  on   champilin. 


Capture  of  the  "Guerriere  "  by  the  "Constitution." 


Lake  Erie,  under  Commodore  Perry,  destroyed  that  of 
the  enemy,  and  thus  enabled  General  Harrison  to  over- 
throw the  army  of  the  British.  And  in  the  following 
year  the  naval  victory  on  Lake  Champlain  effectually 
checked  the  invasion  of  New  York. 

This  series  of  brilliant  naval  successes  filled  the  United   Delight  of 
States  with   enthusiasm  and   England  with  disgust.      Of 
course  the  latter  nation   cared  nothing  for  the  loss  of  a 


i8o  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Capture  of  the 
Chesapeake. 


Privateers. 


The  blockade. 


The  peace 
party. 


few  frigates.  She  had  nearly  a  thousand  ships  in  her 
navy,  and  built  dozens  every  year.  But  those  fights 
broke  the  spell  of  British  invincibility  on  the  seas. 

The  unlucky  American  frigate  Chesapeake  was  cap- 
tured by  the  British  frigate  Shayinon,  and  after  that  there 
were  no  more  duels  between  single  ships.     By  order  of 

the  admiralty  British 
frigates  on  the  Amer- 
ican coast  thereafter 
went  in  pairs. 

Meanwhile  Ameri- 
can privateers  in- 
fested every  sea  and 
captured  hundreds  of 
British  merchantmen. 
These  were  small, 
swift-sailing  vessels, 
many  of  them  built  at 
Baltimore,  and  were 
usually  able  to  escape 
from  the  heavy  men- 
of-war.  But  as  the 
war  went  on  and  the 
British  navy  was  re- 
leased by  the  over- 
throw of  France,  the 
American  coast  was 
closely  blockaded.  Commerce,  of  course,  was  de- 
stroyed, and  at  last  very  few  cruisers  could  get  to  sea. 

The  peace  party,  which  had  opposed  the  declaration 
of  war,  continued  its  opposition  at  every  step.  Massa- 
chusetts and  Connecticut  refused  to  call  out  their  militia 
for  the  national  service,  and  the  war  loan  found  few  sub- 
scribers in  the  East.     In  return  the  British  for  a  long 


William  Bainbridge. 
Born,  1774;  died,  1833.  Won  a  reputation  in 
the  merchant  service ;  entered  navy,  1798 ; 
served  in  naval  war  with  France;  in  1803 
commanded  the  frigate  Philadelphia,  which 
ran  on  the  rocks  off  Tripoli  and  was  cap- 
tured ;  in  1812,  in  command  of  the  Consti- 
tution, captured  the  British  frigate/az^a. 


i8i4. 


The  National  Republicans.  i8i 

time  exempted  the  coast  of  New  England  from  blockade. 
When  the  Federalists  carried  Vermont  the  new  governor 
recalled  the  Vermont  brigade  of  militia  from  garrison 
duty  on  Lake  Champlain.  In  1814  the  Federalists  in- 
sisted that  the  war  was  a  failure,  and  urged  the  accept- 
ance of  disgraceful  terms  of  peace.  And  in  December 
of  that  year  a  convention  of  Federalists  was  held  at  Hart- 
ford, which  held  secret  sessions  and  was  long  believed  to 
have  plotted  for  secession.  But  whatever  were  its  aims 
made  little  difference,  as  by  that  time  peace  was  already 
made. 

In  May,  1814,  Napoleon  was  dethroned,  and  the  long  peace  of  Ghent, 
European  wars  came  to  an  end.  There  was  then  no 
longer  any  occasion  for  dispute.  And  so  commissioners 
of  the  two  nations  met  at  Ghent,  in  August,  and  after 
long  and  weary  disputes,  at  last,  on  the  day  before 
Christmas,  signed  a  treaty  of  peace.  In  it  there  was  no 
mention  of  impressment  or  of  the  right  of  search. 

Thus  ended  the  War  of  181 2.  The  United  States  character  of 
blundered  into  it  and  blundered  out  of  it.  No  nation 
ever  more  richly  deserved  attack  than  did  England  at 
the  hands  of  the  United  States.  And  yet  war  was  be- 
gun almost  without  preparation,  and  was  waged  by  the 
administration  with  a  happy-go-lucky  incompetence  that 
was  almost  sublime.  Defeat  marked  every  offensive  en- 
terprise of  moment,  and  yet  there  was  enough  of  gallant 
achievement  from  Hull's  victory  over  the  Guerriere 
to  Jackson's  triumph  at  New  Orleans  to  show  that  the 
fighting  spirit  of  the  Revolution  was  not  dead.  Only 
Jefferson's  studied  anti-military  policy  was  responsible 
for  the  confusion  and  disasters  of  our  campaigns  in  the 
second  war  with  England. 

Nothing  was  said  in  the  treaty  of  Ghent  about  impress-   some  of  its 
ment  or  the  right  of  search.      It  was  needless.      No  mat- 


the  war. 


results. 


1 82  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


New  political 
principles. 


End  of  the  Fed- 
eralist party. 


National 
defense. 


ter  what  wars  might  break  out  after  1814,  England  would 
never  again  Insult  American  shipping. 

The  Federalists  always  spoke  of  "Mr.  Madison's 
War."  It  was  really  Henry  Clay's.  Madison  was 
dragged  Into  It  reluctantly,  and  the  war  put  the  party  of 

Madison  Into  new 
hands  and  gave  It  new 
policies.  Jeffersonlan 
republicanism  died 
with  the  Embargo  in 
1809.  The  national 
democracy  of  181 5 
was,  if  you  please,  the 
same  party.  But  Its 
principles  were  Ham- 
ilton's  of  1798. 

And  their  thor- 
oughly unpatriotic 
course  during  the  war 
destroyed  the  Feder- 
alist party.  Their  last 
electoral  vote  was  cast 
for  Madison's  suc- 
cessor. They  had 
proved  themselves 
captious,  factious, 
short-sighted,  little  less  than  treasonable. 

The  need  of  maintaining  an  adequate  army  and  navy 
was  thoroughly  learned  by  the  war.  Never  since  1 8 1 2 
have  we  systematically  acted  on  the  assumption  that 
peace  will  always  last,  or  that  In  the  last  resort  there  Is 
any  other  means  of  defending  the  national  honor  than 
mere  force.  The  Lo7idon  Times  was  quite  right  In  say- 
ing of  the  United  States  :     ' '  Their  first  war  with  Eng- 


James  Madison. 
Born,  1751 ;  died,  1836.  Graduated  at  Princeton, 
1772;  lawyer;  member  of  Continental  Con- 
gress, 1780  ;  member  of  legislature  of  Virginia; 
with  Jay  and  Hamilton  wrote  the  Federalist  ; 
member  of  First  Congress  ;  secretary  of  state, 
1801-8  ;  president,  1809-17. 


Summary  of  Part  III.  183 

land  made  them   independent,  their  second   made  them 
formidable. ' ' 

There  were  other  consequences  of  the  long  struggle   Economic 
for  neutral  rights  which  ended   in   the  Embargo  and  in 
war.     The  economic  conditions  of  the  nation  were  revo- 
lutionized.    And  that  led  to  social   and  political  results 
which  have  modified  the  course  of  our  history  ever  since. 


results. 


Organization 


SUMMARY    OF    PART    III. 

Government  under  the  new  constitution  was  organ- 
ized in  1789,  Washington  being  chosen  president.  The  of  government. 
First  Congress  enacted  a  series  of  momentous  measures, 
creating  the  executive  departments,  levying  a  tariff  and 
an  excise,  funding  the  public  debt,  establishing  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  providing  for  a  mint. 
The  effect  of  this  definite  organization  of  the  republic 
was  to  establish  social  order  and  to  give  a  great  stimulus 
to  business  prosperity.  At  the  same  time  differences  of 
opinion  as  to  measures  and  as  to  the  interpretation  of 
the  constitution  led  to  the  beginning  of  our  political 
party  divisions. 

At  the  same  time  with  the  organization  of  our  new  The  wars  of  the 
government  the  French  Revolution  began  its  course. 
This  soon  resulted  in  war  between  France  and  other 
European  powers,  and  presently  the  United  States  was 
about  the  only  neutral  nation.  American  commerce 
had  increased  rapidly  after  the  constitution  went  into 
effect,  and  the  European  wars  stimulated  it  further. 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  there  was  trouble  with  both 
belligerents.  France  expected  aid  from  America,  under 
the  treaty  of  1778.      And  England  seized  every  pretext 


French  Revo- 
lution. 


PART  IV. 

THE  EPOCH  OF  PEACE  AND  SOCIAL 
PROGRESS. 


PART  IV-THE  EPOCH  OF  PEACE  AND  SOCIAL 
PROGRESS. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    ERA    OF    GOOD    FEELING. 

References.— Schouler  ;  Andrews;  Bolles  :  Financial  His- 
tory of  the  United  States  ;  Bishop  :  History  of  American  Man- 
ufactures ;  Taussig  :    Tariff  History. 

The  decade  which  followed  the  War  of  1812  and  was   ^^  ,•  •    , 

Political 

brought  to  a  close  by  the  election  of  John  Quincy  Ad-  harmony, 
ams  to  the  presidency  in  1825  is  commonly  called  "the 
era  of  good  feeling."  In  our  national  politics  there  was 
then  virtually  no  opposition.  The  Federalists  cast  their 
last  electoral  votes  in  18 17,  in  opposition  to  James  Mon- 
roe. At  the  next  election  Monroe  would  have  received 
the  unanimous  suffrages  of  the  electors,  had  it  not  been 
that  one  in  New  Hampshire  thought  that  Washington 
ought  to  have  the  solitary  glory  of  an  unopposed  choice, 
and  so  gave  his  vote  to  John  Quincy  Adams. 

When  the  Senate  ratified  the  treaty  of  Ghent,  at  once 

-'  Disappearance 

the  political  issues  of  a  quarter  century  dropped  com-  of  o'd  issues, 
pletely  out  of  sight.  There  was  nothing  left.  There 
was  no  longer  an  English  party  or  a  French  party.  The 
French  Revolution  seemed  ended,  and  the  Bourbons 
again  reigned,  while  the  long  series  of  English  insults 
and  outrages,  culminating  in  the  sack  of  Washington, 
had  chilled  the  Anglomania  of  all  but  the  most  high-flying 
Federalists.  Orders  in  Council,  the  continental  system, 
paper  blockades,  the  impressment  of  seamen,  all  were 
relegated  to  the  past.   Embargo  and  Non- Intercourse  Acts 

189 


190  The  Growth  of  the  American  Natioyi. 


Nationalization 
of  the  Republi- 
can party. 


New  political 
questions. 


belonged  to  a  remote  antiquity.  The  neutral  trade  itself, 
which  had  first  enriched  our  merchants,  and  had  then 
proved  a  very  Pandora's  box  to  the  nation,  was  gone.  All 
the  world  was  neutral,  for  there  were  no  belligerents. 

On  the  other  hand,  anti-national  sentiment,  the  ani- 
mus of  the  resolutions  of  1798  and  of  the  Hartford  Con- 
vention, seemed  extinct.  It  was  the  party  of  Jefferson 
and  Madison  which  fired  the  national  heart  in  18 12.  It 
was  the  party  of  strict  construction  which  had  bought 
Louisiana  and  had  enforced  the  Embargo  at  the  point  of 
the  bayonet.  It  was  the  party  that  dreaded  armies, 
navies,  and  wars  which  had  indulged  in  the  luxury  of  all. 
As  Josiah  Quincy  wrote,  ' '  Why  should  we  oppose  the  ad- 
ministration when  it  is  already  completely  Federalized  ?  ' ' 

And,  to  cap  the  climax,  the  party  of  the  old  anti-Ham- 
ilton Republicans  was  about  to  reestablish  Hamilton's 
bank,  and  to  enact  a  protective  tariff,  drawing  the  argu- 
ments from  Hamilton's  reports. 

The  truth  is  that  the  old  parties  had  divided  very  largely 
on  issues  which  had  now  become  extinct.  Meanwhile  there 
'  had  been  going  on  quietly  a  development  of  society  which 
took  the  place  of  foreign  affairs  in  the  public  conscious- 
ness. And  on  the  principles  involved  in  these  social  and 
economic  questions  the  new  political  parties  were  formed. 
When  the  Monroe  period  came  to  an  end  political  difTer- 
entiation  was  already  visible.  The  new  questions  were 
fairly  stated.  The  leaders  were  ready.  The  gentlemen 
of  the  revolutionary  school  had  gone.  With  the  death 
of  Adams  and  Jefferson,  July  4,  1826,  it  might  truly  be 
said  that  ' '  old  things  had  passed  away — all  things  had 
become  new."  Jackson,  Clay,  Calhoun,  Webster,  these 
were  the  giants  of  the  new  era.  Internal  improvements, 
a  protective  tariff,  the  national  bank,  these  were  the  sub- 
ject matter  about  which  the  new  party  violence  raged. 


The  Era  of  Good  Feeling. 


191 


And  soon  Whig  and  Democrat  were  as  fiercely  at  war  as 
had  been  Federalist  and  Republican. 

The  leaders  in  the  national  life  during  the  decade  in 
question  were  of  quite  varied  characteristics.  The  presi- 
dent himself,  Monroe,  was  an  excellent  example  of  that 
eminently  respectable  mediocrity  which  a  long  experience 
has  now  taught  us  to  expect  in  a  president  of  these 
United  States.  Honest,  laborious,  high-minded,  some- 
what dull,  he  was  the  last  of  the  revolutionary  politicians 
and  soldiers — the  last 
of  that  "Virginia 
dynasty"  which  for 
thirty-two  years  out 
of  the  first  thirty-six 
administered  the  con- 
stitution. As  Mad- 
ison's secretary  of 
state,  he  followed 
what  now  had  be- 
come an  established 
precedent  in  succeed- 
ing to  the  presidency. 

This  last  consider- 
ation made  the  as- 
signment of  the  first 
place  in  Monroe's 
cabinet  a  question  of 
prime  importance. 
The  selection  of  John 
Quincy  Adams  prob- 
ably could  not  have  been  bettered.  He  was  a  ripe 
statesman,  with  long  experience  in  diplomatic  service — a 
scholar,  industrious,  upright,  accomplished. 

But  the   most   popular   politician   in  the  Republican 


J  vMLs  Monroe, 
Born,  1758;  died,  1831.  Served  in  Revolution- 
ary War,  reaching  the  rank  of  Heutenant- 
colonel ;  member  oFCongress  under  the  Con- 
federation ;  senator  from  Virginia  in  the 
First  Congress ;  was  a  stanch  opponent  of  the 
Federalists ;  envoy  to  France,  1794  ;  governor 
of  Virginia,  1799-1802  ;  one  of  the  commission- 
ers who  made  the  Louisiana  purchase  ;  sec- 
retary of  state  under  Madison  ;  president  of 
the  United  States,  1817-25. 


Monroe. 


John  Quincy 
Adams. 


192  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


party  was  Henry  Clay.  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  since  181 1,  with  the  exception  only  of 
the  brief  interval  of  his  absence  at  Ghent,  he  was  pre- 
eminently the  leader  in  the  new  school  of  Republican 
thought.  He  had  his  eye  on  the  presidency.  And  he 
was  not  a  little  dissatisfied  that  Adams  was  preferred  for 
the  department  of  state. 

General  Andrew  Jackson  was  not  an  aspirant  for  a 
cabinet  place.  Even  had  he  expected  to  be  president 
(and  he  probably  did  not  at  that  time),  precedents 
would  not  have  caused  him  any  anxiety.  While  in 
18 18  he  was  roaming  around  in  Florida,  in  his  own  law- 
less and  pugnacious  way,  capturing  Spanish  forts, 
hanging  British  subjects,  and  otherwise  smashing  inter- 
national law,  as  he  was  wont  to  smash  anything  which 
got  in  the  way  of  his  rugged  common  sense — in  all  these 
proceedings  he  was  setting  out  for  the  White  House  by 
a  new  road.      It  proved  a  tolerably  straight  one. 

The  Embargo  and  the  war  had  changed  the  currents 
of  business  enterprise.  To  be  sure,  manufactures  had 
slowly  increased  since  the  Revolution.  Still,  foreign 
commerce  afforded  the  main  employment  to  capital  in 
the  Eastern  and  Middle  States,  and  most  goods  of 
English  manufacture  were  cheaper  than  those  produced 
here.  But  when  the  various  Non-Intercourse  Acts, 
followed  by  war,  cut  off  the  source  of  supply,  from 
sheer  necessity  our  people  took  to  making  many  articles 
which  before  they  had  imported.  The  home  product  of 
cotton  and  woolen  goods  especially  increased  very 
greatly.  And  these  new  manufactures  gave  an  outlet 
for  that  capital  which  had  before  been  employed  in 
shipping  and  commerce.  But  as  soon  as  the  war  came 
to  an  end,  a  flood  of  British  goods  was  poured  on  the 
American  market.     There  had  been  an  enormous  over- 


The  Era  of  Good  Feeling.  193 


production  in  England.  The  consumption  of  war  in 
that  country  had  ceased,  and  the  manufacturers  eagerly 
took  advantage  of  every  new  outlet  for  their  goods. 
In  many  cases  these  shipments  proved  disastrous  to 
those  who  made  them,  while  at  the  same  time  sufficing 
to  break  down  the  American  market.  The  last  con- 
sideration Lord  Brougham  considered  important  enough 
to  warrant  any  losses  which  might  result.  He  said  in 
Parliament,    ' '  It  was  well  worth  while  to  incur  a  loss   Hansard's  De- 

'  ^  _  bates,  First 

upon   the  first  exportation,   in   order,   by  the   glut,    to   ^xxni^^^' 
stifle  in   the   cradle   those   rising   manufactures  of  the   1099- 
United  States  which  the  war  had  forced  into  existence, 
contrary  to  the  natural  course  of  things."     And  the 
American  merchants  turned  to  Congress  for  relief 

The  tariff"  of  1789,  while  intended  primarily  for 
revenue,  was  moderately  protective.  The  average  rate 
of  ad  valorem  duties  was  about  five  per  cent.  Succes- 
sive acts  in  later  years  raised  this  average  to  about 
fifteen  per  cent.  Of  course  the  Embargo  and  Non- 
Intercourse  Acts  and  the  war,  from  1808  to  181 5,  had 
the  effect  of  protection  for  home  manufactures.  And  in 
181 2  the  import  duties  were  doubled,  to  obtain  revenue 
for  the  war.  The  act  of  18 16  was  intended  as  a  reduc- 
tion of  the  war  tariff,  but  at  the  same  time  the  idea  of 
protection  was  for  the  first  time  made  prominent.  The 
bill  w^as  planned  by  Alexander  J.  Dallas,  w^ho  had 
succeeded  Gallatin  as  secretary  of  the  treasury.*  Oddly 
enough,  the  protective  features  of  this  act  were  cham- 
pioned by  Calhoun,  who  afterwards  became  so  con- 
spicuous in  his  opposition  to  high  tariffs.  Calhoun 
thought  that  if  cotton  factories  should  be  fostered  in  the 
North  it  would  afford  a  market  for  the  Carolina  staple. 


*  After  Gallatin  retired  there  were  some  disastrous  experiments  made  before 
Dallas  was  appointed. 


194  '^^^  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


The  tariff  of 
1816. 


Bishop,  II.,  222. 


The  panic  of 

1819. 


General  adverse 
conditions. 


And  he  shared  with  Jefferson  the  desire  to  see  us  in- 
dustrially independent  of  Europe. 

The  law  of  18 16  made  three  grades  of  manufactured 
goods.  In  the  first  were  placed  such  articles  as  could  be 
supplied  by  American  producers  in  sufficient  quantities 
for  the  home  market.  In  this  class  were  all  manufac- 
tures of  wool,  carriages,  cordage,  hats,  firearms,  leather 
and  leather  goods,  paper,  and  some  others.  The 
average  rate  on  these  goods  was  thirty-five  per  cent — 
which  was  meant  to  be  prohibitory.  In  the  second 
grade  were  articles  with  which  the  domestic  manufacturers 
could  partly,  but  not  wholly,  supply  the  American 
market.  Here  were  found  coarse  cottons  and  woolens, 
plated  ware,  large  iron  manufactures,  such  as  shovels, 
products  of  pewter,  tin,  copper,  and  brass,  window 
glass,  spirits  and  malt  liquors,  and  others.  On  these 
the  duty  was  twenty-five  per  cent — to  be  reduced  in 
three  years  to  twenty  per  cent.  This  rate  was  supposed 
to  be  competitive.  In  the  third  grade  were  articles 
which  were  not  produced  at  all,  or  only  to  a  slight  ex- 
tent, in  this  country.  Such  were  fine  cottons,  linens, 
silks,  many  woolens  and  worsteds,  carpets,  blankets, 
hosiery,  small  hardware,  cutlery,  pins  and  needles,  china, 
glass.  On  these  low  rates  were  levied.  The  average 
ad  valorem  duty  under  this  tariff  was  twenty-five  per 
cent.  But  the  protective  features  of  this  act  did  not 
seem  to  work.  At  all  events,  business  grew  worse,  and 
in  1819  there  was  a  great  crash. 

To  be  sure,  there  were  other  causes  than  foreign 
competition  with  our  manufacturers.  The  agriculture 
and  commerce  which  had  been  so  prosperous  before  the 
Embargo  did  not  return  after  the  war  to  their  old  con- 
dition. And  it  would  have  been  strange  if  they  had. 
It  was  just   the   fact  of  the   general   wars   which  had 


The  Era  of  Good  Feeling.  195 


created  so  active  a  demand  for  American  raw  materials 
and  for  American  neutral  shipping.  But  the  wars  were 
ended,  and  now  each  European  nation  jealously  sought 
to  restrict  its  trade  so  far  as  possible  to  its  own  people. 
Further,  the  whole  civilized  world  was  suffering  from 
business  depression.  The  nations  had  been  busy  for  a 
quarter  century  in  killing  people  and  destroying 
property.  And  now  the  effects  began  to  be  felt — and 
America  could  not  avoid  sharing  in  them. 

But  there  were  some  special  reasons  in  this  country,  p^^^j^^  finance. 
The  financial  system  had  been  totally  disarranged.  In 
181 1,  the  twenty-year  charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United 
States  expired.  The  traditional  Republican  opposition  oTthe  unuS^ 
to  Hamilton's  ideas  sufficed  to  defeat  a  new  charter,  states. 
But  this  was  accomplished  by  a  close  vote — by  a 
majority  of  one  in  the  House,  and  by  the  casting  vote 
of  the  vice-president  in  the  Senate.  Gallatin  strongly 
favored  continuing  the  bank,  but  as  he  had  many 
enemies  in  Congress  his  influence  gave  no  help.  So 
just  as  the  country  was  plunging  into  war,  its  accustomed 
fiscal  machinery  was  destroyed.  This  fact  greatly  em- 
barrassed the  administration  in  prosecuting  hostilities, 
and  had  a  still  worse  effect  on  the  condition  of  business. 
The  currency  provided  by  the  national  bank  was  with- 
drawn, and  its  place  was  taken  by  the  issues  of  a 
multitude  of  state  banks.  The  imperative  demand  for 
military  supplies  drained  off  the  coin,  and  the  banks 
were  obliged  to  suspend  specie  payments.  In  the 
meantime,  the  flood  of  paper  bank  notes  became  greatly 
depreciated,  and  business  was  correspondingly  unsettled. 

At    this    juncture    Secretary    Dallas   advised    a    new 

-'  ■'  The  second 

United  States  Bank,  and  Congress  adopted  the  sugges-   ^^^f^"^^^^^ 
tion.      It  was  planned  on   the  general  lines  of  the  old 
one,  but  on  a  larger  scale,  the  capital  being  $35,000,000, 


196  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


The  crash  in 

1819. 


ejpn 
iff  o 


f 1824. 


The  Missouri 
Compromise, 
1820. 


in  place  of  $10,000,000.  The  government  held  a  fifth 
of  the  stock,  and  appointed  a  fifth  of  the  twenty-five 
directors.  The  main  bank  was  in  Philadelphia,  and 
branches  were  established  in  the  different  states.  The 
bank  was  to  have  all  the  deposits  of  the  national 
treasury,  was  to  transact  exchanges  for  the  government 
without  charge,  and  was  to  aid  in  the  negotiation  of 
loans.  The  bank  paper,  issued  in  notes  of  not  less  than 
five  dollars,  was  to  be  accepted  in  payments  to  the 
United  States.  One  great  object  in  establishing  the 
bank  was  to  secure  the  resumption  of  specie  payments. 
This  it  succeeded  in  accomplishing  early  in  181 7.  But 
in  other  respects  the  institution  was  mismanaged  for  the 
first  few  years,  and  thus  contributed  to  the  disasters  of 
1 8 19.  In  that  year  there  was  a  general  collapse  of 
business.  All  the  bad  conditions  which  for  years  had 
prevailed  seemed  to  culminate.  Banks  and  mercantile 
houses  failed,  and  there  was  general  distress. 

In  1824,  Congress  was  led  to  believe  that  the  inade- 
quate protection  of  manufactures  was  one  cause  of  the 
troubles,  and  accordingly  a  new  tariff  was  enacted.  The 
average  scale  of  duties  was  made  thirty-three  and  one 
third  per  cent.  Henry  Clay  was  a  prominent  advocate 
of  this  measure,  and  many  of  the  Young  Republicans 
who  had  been  concerned  with  him  in  bringing  on  the 
war,  and  who  afterwards  had  joined  in  establishing  the 
bank,  were  also  in  favor  of  the  protective  tariff. 

Two  other  striking  features  of  the  decade  from  18 15 
to  1825  were  the  Missouri  Compromise  and  the  promul- 
gation of  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 

The  Missouri  Compromise  belongs  logically  with  the 
discussion  of  the  question  of  African  slavery  as  a  social 
and  political  force,  and  its  details  will  be  left  until  we 
take  up  that  subject.      It  is  sufiicient  to   say  here  that 


The  Era  of  Good  Feeling.  197 

free  state  men  opposed  the  admission  of  Missouri  to  the 
Union  as  a  slave  state,  and  that  its  admission  was  only 
secured  by  the  agreement  that  slavery  should  not  be  per- 
mitted in  any  other  portion  of  the  territory  bought  of 
France  which  should  lie  north  of  36°  30'  (the  parallel 
bounding  Missouri  on  the  south).  The  dispute  over  this 
question  was  a  violent  one,  and  led  to  ominous  threats  of 
a  dissolution  of  the  Union. 

The  Monroe  Doctrine  has  become  the  settled  policy  ^^^^  Monroe 
of  the  United  States.  But  it  was  by  no  means  devised  i^octrme. 
by  the  worthy  president  whose  name  it  bears.  After  the 
Revolutionary  War  there  was  a  general  feeling  that  the 
old  European  colonial  system  ought  no  longer  to  con- 
tinue, but  that  America  should  belong  to  Americans — 
and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  bad  policy  for  America 
to  become  entangled  in  European  affairs.  This  view 
was  urged  with  great  force  by  Washington  in  his  fare- 
well address,  by  Jeiferson  in  his  inaugural,  and  on  many 
other  occasions. 

In  181 2  the  American  colonies  of  Spain  took  advan-   ^ 

^  ^  Spanish- 

tage  of  the  confusion  in   European  affairs  to  throw  off  American 
their  allegiance  to  the  home  country  and  sooner  or  later 
to  declare  their  independence.     And  they  made  their 
declaration  good  in  a  series  of  successful  campaigns. 

But  after  the  fall  of  Napoleon,  the  powers  of  Europe 
bound  themselves  together  in  order  to  crush  any  future 
attempts  at  revolution.  Accordingly  Austria  sent  troops 
into  Naples  to  quell  insurrection,  and  in  1823  a  French 
army  invaded  Spain  and  overturned  the  constitution 
which  the  Liberals  of  that  country  had  forced  on  their 
treacherous  and  tyrannical  king. 

The  allies  then  considered  the  question  of  recovering  proposed 
the  Spanish  colonies.      France  was  again  willing  to  send   ,^tervem'ion. 
an  expedition,  naval  and  military,  of  course  expecting  a 


198  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Monroe's 
message,  1823. 


The  essential 
points. 


reasonable  compensation,  probably  in  American  territory. 
England  was  opposed  to  this,  and  in  the  summer  of  1823 
Canning,  the  foreign  secretary,  proposed  to  the  Ameri- 
can minister,  Rush,  a  joint  declaration  deprecating  in- 
tervention. Rush  assented  to  this,  on  condition  that 
England  should  recognize  the  independence  of  the  Span- 
ish-American republics,  which  the  United  States  had 
already  done.     This  Canning  was  unwilling  to  do. 

But  the  message  of  President  Monroe  to  Congress, 
December  2,  1823,  adverted  to  the  subject.  The  presi- 
dent made  three  statements  which  were  very  significant. 

He  declared  that  the  United  States  will  not  look  favor- 
ably on  the  planting  of  any  more  European  colonies  on 
this  continent. 

He  went  on  to  say  :  '^  We  owe  it,  therefore,  to  candor 
and  to  the  amicable  relations  existing  between  the  United 
States  and  those  powers,  to  declare  that  we  should  con- 
sider any  attempt  on  their  part  to  extend  their  system  to 
any  portion  of  this  hemisphere  as  dangerous  to  our  peace 
and  safety. ' ' 

And  then  he  added,  still  more  explicitly  :  * '  With  the 
existing  colonies  or  dependencies  of  any  European  power 
we  have  not  interfered  and  shall  not  interfere  ;  but  with 
the  governments  which  have  declared  their  independence 
and  maintained  it,  and  whose  independence  we  have  on 
great  consideration  and  on  just  principles  acknowledged, 
we  could  not  view  any  interposition  for  the  purpose  of 
oppressing  them,  or  controlling  in  any  other  manner 
their  destiny,  by  any  European  power,  in  any  other 
light  than  as  the  manifestation  of  an  unfriendly  disposi- 
tion toward  the  United  States." 

The  three  points  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  then,  are  : 
no  more  European  colonies  in  America,  no  extension  to 
this  continent  of  the  European  political  system,  no  in- 


The  Era  of  Good  Feeling. 


199 


terference  with  the  independence  of  the  American  re- 
publics. France  heeded  the  suggestion  of  the  Ameri- 
can president,  and  dropped  the  plan  of  interference. 

It  should  be  observed  that  the  Monroe  Doctrine  has 
never  been  formulated  by  act  of  Congress,  but  is  merely 
a  tradition  of  executive  policy.  It  is  somewhat  indefi- 
nite, but  it  has  answered  its  purpose  thus  far.  Europe 
understands  that  the  United  States  will  not  tolerate  such 
a  policy  with  regard  to  America  as  the  European  states 
have  followed  in  Africa  and  Asia  and  Oceanica. 


The  doctrine 
not  legislative. 


r-' 


-^^.  :^f  ,1  h 


o 


UNITED  STATES 
IN  1820. 

(James  Monroe's  Administration) 

r7^  S.atcs 
rr^^  Territories 
Iin  Spanish  Poss. 
F^  English  Pots. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


THE    NATIONAL    REPUBLICANS. 


The  election  of 

1824. 


How  Clay  was 
beaten. 


References. — Schouler  ;  Andrews  ;  Hammond  :  Political 
History  of  New  York;  Clay  ^  Jackson,  andy.  Q.  Adams,  in  the 
Statesmen  Series  ;  First  Century  of  the  Republic. 

The  presidential  election  of  1824  is  known  as  the 
' '  scrub  race. ' '  All  the  candidates  were  Republicans,  as 
the  Federalist  party  had  now  become  a  mere  remi- 
niscence. The  machinery  of  a  national  nominating 
convention  had  not  yet  been  invented,  and  the  old 
method  of  nominating  by  a  congressional  caucus  had 
fallen  into  disfavor.  So  it  came  about  that  no  less  than 
four  Republican  candidates  appeared  before  the  people. 
Two  of  these  were  in  Monroe's  cabinet — Adams,  the 
secretary  of  state,  and  Crawford,  of  Georgia,  secretary 
of  the  treasury.  Clay  was  speaker.  The  fourth  was 
General  Andrew  Jackson,  who  was  now  in  retirement. 
The  contest  was  wholly  personal.  And  naturally  none 
of  the  four  had  a  majority  of  electoral  votes.  Jackson 
had  ninety- nine,  Adams  eighty-four,  Crawford  forty- 
one,  and  Clay  thirty-seven.  Thus  for  a  second  time  the 
choice  of  a  president  went  to  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives. But  by  the  twelfth  amendment  to  the  constitu- 
tion, made  after  the  bitterly  contested  election  of  1801, 
the  House,  voting  by  states,  was  required  to  choose 
from  the  highest  three  on  the  list.  And  so  Clay  was 
excluded. 

The  fact  that  Crawford  had  four  more  votes  than 
Clay  resulted  from  a  bit  of  double  dealing  in  New  York. 


The  National  Republicajis. 


20I 


Hammond,  II. 

177. 


The  electors  in  that  state  were  chosen  by  the  legislature. 
The  friends  of  Adams  and  Clay  combined,  with  the 
agreement  to  divide  the  electors  between  their  candi- 
dates, Adams  receiving  the  greater  number  But  when 
it  came  to  a  ballot 
several  blank  votes 
were  cast,  and  thus 
only  thirty-two  elec- 
tors were  chosen.  On 
a  second  ballot  four 
Crawford  men  were 
elected.  Had  the 
combination  held  to- 
gether these  votes 
would  have  been  lost 
to  Crawford,  several 
or  all  of  them  going 
to  Clay.  In  that 
event  Clay,  instead  of 
Crawford,  would  have 
come  before  the 
House  of  Representa- 
tives, and  that  body 
it  is  known  would 
promptly  have  chosen 
him  president. 

As    it  was,    in  the 
House  the  friends  of  Clay  and  Adams  combined  to  elect   Election  of 
the  latter.       Adams    had   thirteen    states,  Jackson    had 
seven,  and  Crawford  four.      And  Adams  appointed  Clay 
secretary  of  state. 

At  once  the  air  was   full   of  accusations.      It  was  a   7^^  alleged 
"corrupt  bargain."      Adams  and  Clay  had  dickered  for  baTg'a'^iJP' 
the  presidency,  it  was  said.     There  was  no  evidence  of 


John  Quincy  Adams. 
Born,  1767 ;  died,  1848.  Son  of  John  Adams ; 
minister  to  Holland,  1794;  minister  to  Portu- 
gal, 1796;  minister  to  Prussia,  1797;  U.S.  sena- 
tor from  Massachusetts,  1803;  resigned,  1808; 
minister  to  Russia,  1809  ;  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners at  Ghent,  1814;  minister  to  England, 
1815;  secretary  of  state,  1817-25  ;  president 
of  the  United  States,  1825-9;  member  of  Con- 
gress from  Massachusetts,  1831-48. 


202  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


this  except  the  circumstances.  As  the  Tennessee  legis- 
lature expressed  it :  '  'Adams  went  into  the  combination 
wanting  the  presidency.  He  came  out  of  it  president. 
Clay  went  into  the  combination  wanting  to  be  secretary 
of  state.  He  came  out  of  it  with  the  secretaryship. 
No  more  proof  was  needed."  And  It  might  be  added 
that  no  more  proof  was  ever  found.  But  from  the 
nature  of  the  case  the  charge  was  one  which  could  not 
be  disproved.  And  the  opposition  at  once  saw  that 
with  this  weapon  they  could  destroy  Adams.  And  they 
did. 
Character  Than  Tohn  Quincy  Adams  we  have  never  had  a  presl- 

of  Adams.  -'  ^    .  .     .        .  .     .  .  . 

dent  better  equipped  m  knowledge  and  experience. 
Conscientious,  hard-working,  able,  it  was  his  ambition 
to  signalize  his  administration  by  great  achievements  for 
the  public  good.  The  country  had  recovered  from  the 
depression  of  1819  and  was  generally  prosperous.  The 
West  was  rapidly  filling  up  with  an  industrious  popula- 
tion. Manufactures  and  commerce  were  expanding. 
The  farmers  found  a  ready  market  at  good  prices. 
His  policy.  To  aid  thIs  development  and  to  secure  permanence  of 

prosperity  the  president  thought  was  a  function  of  sound 
statesmanship.  The  vast  public  lands  of  the  new  states 
and  of  the  unsettled  territories,  he  thought  should  be 
sold  at  once  and  that  the  funds  thus  provided  should  be 
used  for  works  of  public  utility.  He  wanted  great 
roads,  canals,  and  bridges.  He  would  improve  harbors 
and  navigation.  He  favored  suitable  fortifications  on 
the  coast,  an  adequate  army,  a  strong  navy.  He  pro- 
posed a  national  university  and  a  naval  school.  All 
these  things,  and  many  more  which  would  forward  civili- 
zation and  open  the  continent  to  its  advance,  he  longed 
to  see  realized,  and  so  urged  them  on  Congress. 

But  this  administration,  so  able  in  personnel  and  so 


The  National  Republica7is.  203 


brilliant  in  conception,  was  doomed  to  be  one  of  the  Factious  oppo- 
most  barren  in  our  annals.  And  the  fatal  force  which  ^'''°"" 
paralyzed  all  action  was  the  factious  opposition  which 
was  determined  to  secure  the  presidency  for  Jackson  in 
1828  at  all  hazards.  To  do  that,  the  administration 
must  be  made  unpopular.  It  must  not  be  allowed  to  do 
anything  to  win  the  attention  and  affection  of  the  nation. 
Therefore,  whatever  the  administration  suggested  was  at 
once  opposed  and  if  possible  thwarted  without  regard  to 
its  merits,  and  the  Jackson  men  and  Crawford  men  com- 
bined succeeded  in  controlling  Congress. 

The  ideas  of  President  Adams  were  quite  in  accord  Adams  and  the 
with  those  of  the  "  Young  Republicans,"  who  had  come  lidns"^  ^^^"^' 
on  the  stage  since  1 8 1 1 .  They  had  the  same  thoroughly 
national  views  which  had  animated  the  Federalists  of 
Hamilton's  day.  And,  while,  of  course,  they  had  no 
thought  of  forming  a  new  party,  they  delighted  to  call 
themselves  "National  Republicans." 

One  of  their  favorite  plans  related  to  internal  improve- 
ments.     The    rapid    development    of   the    new  country  provements 
made  very  evident  the  great  need  of  better  means  of 
communication.      There  was  land  almost  without  limit. 
But  of  what  use  was  it  if  its  products  could  only  reach 
a  market  at  so  much  cost  of  time  and   money  that  they 
could  not  be  sold  at  a  profit?     In  fact,  the  American 
people  were  beginning  to  struggle  with  one  of  the  great 
problems  of  our  age — how  to  bring  the  farm  near  to  the 
city.      Distance,  speaking  economically,  is  not  measured 
in  miles,  but  in  time,  money,  and  effort.      If  it  costs  no   mearfs°oP°^ 
more  and  is  just  as  easy  to   carry  a  load  to  market  by   transport, 
rail  a  hundred  miles,  as  to  haul  an  equal  load  there  in  a 
wagon  ten  miles,  then  for  all  practical  purposes  the  two 
places  are  at  an  equal  distance  from  market. 

All  this  was  understood  by  Jefferson,  and  he  thought 


204  The   Growth  of  the  Aniericmi  Nation. 


Jefferson's 
views. 


The  Cumber- 
land Road. 


See  Harper's 
Magazine  for 
November, 
1879,  "The  Old 
National  Pike." 

I8^^8. 


that  trunk  lines  of  road  ought  to  be  constructed  by  the 
nation.  His  plan  was  from  the  customs  revenue  first  of 
all  to  pay  off  the  national  debt.  Then  he  would  devote 
the  surplus  to  roads  and  canals,  and  to  making  provision 
for  general  education.  Now  this  was  precisely  the  thought 
of  Adams  and  Clay  and  their  National  Republican  friends. 
But  the  difference  was  in  regard  to  constitutional  pow- 
ers. Jefferson,  true  to  his  theory  of  strict  construction, 
held  that  the  general  government  could  have  no  power 
to  use  money  for  the  purposes  in  question  without  a  con- 
stitutional amendment.  Clay  and  Adams  believed  in 
Hamilton's  doctrine  of  implied  powers,  and  so  thought 
an  amendment  quite  unnecessary.  Jefferson's  eager  de- 
sire for  such  public  works  was  one  reason  for  his  dread 
of  war,  and  the  outbreak  of  hostilities  in  181 2  accord- 
ingly was  a  great  disappointment  to  him. 

The  first  great  national  undertaking  in  the  way  of  in- 
ternal improvements  was  the  Cumberland  Road.  This 
was  projected  in  1806,  and  was  to  run  from  Maryland  to 
the  Ohio  River,  thence  to  the  Mississippi,  and  thence, 
perhaps,  to  the  Pacific.  It  was  built  as  far  as  Wheeling, 
on  the  Ohio,  was  well  constructed  of  stone  and  gravel, 
and  was  afterwards  extended  to  the  Indiana  line.  This 
was  to  be  but  the  east  and  west  artery  of  a  great  system. 
Another,  was  to  run  from  Washington  to  New  Orleans, 
and  then  there  was  to  be  a  network  of  branches. 

This  great  plan  was  only  in  line  with  what  had  been 
done  in  Europe.  The  latter  half  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury was  marked  by  a  great  revolution  in  road-making. 
The  rude  tracks  and  horrible  quagmires  of  a  previous 
age  were  replaced  by  the  smooth  and  hard  highways 
constructed  by  the  genius  of  the  Macadams  and  the 
Telfords,  and  the  result  was  a  great  saving  in  time  and 
comfort,   and,  of  course,   in  the  cost  of  transportation. 


The  Natio7ial  Republicans.  205 

And  it  was  proposed  to  duplicate  this  reform  in  America. 

But  the  troubles  with  England  piled  up  debt  and  The  system 
stopped  the  execution  of  many  of  these  plans.  After  ^  ^^  ^  • 
the  peace  the  subject  again  engaged  the  attention  of 
Congress,  but  did  not  make  much  headway.  National 
aid  for  the  Erie  Canal  was  refused,  and  so  that  great 
work  was  carried  out  by  the  state  of  New  York.  A  bill 
making  further  appropriations  for  the  Cumberland  Road 
Monroe  vetoed,  on  the  constitutional  ground.  And  the 
amendment  desired  by  Jefferson  was  never  made. 

But  the  National  Republicans  warmly  defended  the   ^^   ,,   .     , 

^  ■'  ^  The  National 

plans  for  national  highways  and  canals,  and  ' '  internal  RepubHcan 
improvements ' '  were  a  burning  issue  in  politics  for  a 
number  of  years,  only  vanishing  when  the  new  and  sur- 
prising application  of  steam  to  the  traction  of  wheeled 
carriages  on  iron  rails  had  finally  relegated  turnpikes  and 
canals  to  insignificance. 

The  conception  of  Clay  and  Adams  was  a  brilliant  one.     ,      .  , 

^    .  -^  ,  How  It  has 

They  were  entirely  sound  in   thinkinsf  that  both  national   come  to  be 

;  ■'       ^  ,  ^  ^       ■  reahzed. 

sentiment  and  material  prosperity  demanded  rapid  and 
cheap  transit  from  one  end  of  the  Union  to  the  other. 
This  conception  has  been  realized  in  our  own  day.  The 
Union  is  bound  together  by  bands  of  steel  and  iron. 
The  railroad  and  the  telegraph  have  wrought  what  Jeffer- 
son hoped  to  accomplish  by  the  turnpike. 

Nothing  was  more  marked  in  the  decades  which  im-  settlement  of 
mediately  followed  the  War  of  181 2  than  the  emigration  ^'^^  West. 
which  set  in  toward  the  West.  The  wilderness  beyond 
the  Alleghenies  was  cleared  and  settled  with  marvelous 
rapidity,  and  state  after  state  was  added  to  the  Union. 
In  turn  this  striking  feature  of  our  national  life  produced 
important  effects  on  public  policies.  The  balance  of 
power,  with  the  center  of  population,  began  to  leave 
the  Atlantic  coast. 


2o6  The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Effect  of  the 
war. 


Economic  revo- 
lution. 


The  routes  of 
emigration. 


Slow  methods. 


To  be  sure,  this  movement  had  begun  long  before. 
Kentucky  and  Tennessee  became  states  before  the  eigh- 
teenth century  was  ended,  and  Ohio  when  the  nine- 
teenth was  just  begun.  And  the  Mississippi  Valley  was 
felt  in  1812  among  the  Young  Republicans  who  forced 
on  the  war  with  Great  Britain.  The  census  of  1800 
showed  only  45,000  people  in  Ohio,  5,000  in  Indiana 
Territory,  and  8,000  in  Mississippi.  But  these  were 
multiplied  sixfold  in  18 10. 

The  war  in  various  ways  set  the  current  of  migra- 
tion in  motion.  The  army  of  Harrison  marched  over 
the  rich  prairies  of  Indiana,  and  when  disbanded  at 
the  peace  the  soldiers  cast  longing  eyes  toward  their 
battle-grounds. 

Then,  too,  the  Embargo  and  the  war  had  ruined 
foreign  commerce,  and  with  the  general  peace  the 
neutral  trade  lost  its  monopoly.  And  thus  agriculture 
in  the  East  was  shorn  of  a  great  share  of  its  profits. 
For  these  reasons  many  merchants  devoted  their  capital 
to  manufacturing,  and  many  farmers  turned  to  the  richer 
soil  of  the  West.  So  an  increasing  stream  of  emigrant 
wagons  poured  over  the  mountain  passes,  and  the  for- 
ests of  Ohio  and  the  prairies  of  Indiana  and  Illinois 
yielded  to  the  axe  and  plow  of  the  settler.* 

There  were  three  general  lines  of  travel — over  the 
mountains  through  western  Pennsylvania  to  Pittsburg, 
and  then  by  boats  down  the  Ohio,  through  western 
New  York  to  Buffalo  and  thence  by  Lake  Erie,  and 
south  flanking  the  mountain  range  and  penetrating  Ala- 
bama and  Mississippi. 

In  the  early  years  of  the  century  travel  was  slow. 
The  pioneer  wagons  were  heavy,  the  roads  were  dread- 

*  For  a  more  detailed  account  of  this  settlement,  its  methods,  sources,  and 
results,  see  my  chapter  on  "  The  Mississippi  Valley,"  Chapter  V.,  in  Shaler's 
"United  States  of  America." 


The  National  Republicans. 


207 


ful.  Reaching  Pittsburg,  the  emigrants  embarked  in  a 
flatboat  which  floated  down  with  the  current,  or  in  a 
keelboat  which  could  be  poled  up  some  affluent  of  the 
great  river.  The  farmers  along  all  these  streams  sent 
their  produce  to  market  in  these  primitive  boats  and  in 
turn  received  such  merchandise  as  they  needed  from 
those  which  came  up  from  New  Orleans  and  Louisville. 
In  this  way  four  months  were  consumed  from  New 
Orleans  to  St.  Louis.  The  inevitable  effect  was  that 
the  farmer  paid  high 
prices  for  all  articles 
which  he  bought, 
while  in  turn  his 
produce  brought 
him  very  little. 

But  in  181 1  Ful- 
ton put  a  steamboat 
on  the  Ohio  at 
Pittsburg,  and  the 
results  were  mar- 
velous. By  18 1 5 
the  time  from  New 
Orleans  to  St.  Louis 
was  twenty-five 
days,  and  in  1823  it 
was  twelve  days. 

People  were 
greatly  excited  by 
these  passages. 
"The  Monongahela 
and  Ohio  Steamboat 
Company  claimed 
patronage  because  their  new  crack  boats  could  go  nine 
miles  an  hour."      But  that  speed  was  for  a  long  time 


Steamboats. 


Robert  Fulton. 
Born,  1765;  died,  1815.  An  inventor.  Built  the 
Clermont,  and  propelled  it  by  a  steam-engine 
from  New  York  to  Albany,  in  thirty-two  hours, 
1807.  Planned  a  steam  war  vessel,  which  was 
launched  in  1814. 


"  First  Century 
of  the  Repub- 
lic," 181. 


208 


The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


New  states. 


The  Erie 
Canal. 


Schouler,  III., 

346-7- 


thought  dangerous.  Freight  rates  were  rapidly  re- 
duced, and  prices  of  commodities  consumed  by  the 
settlers  fell  in  proportion.  At  the  same  time  they  were, 
of  course,  brought  into  closer  and  cheaper  communica- 
tion with  their  market. 

These  facts,  with  the  added  speed  and  convenience  of 
travel,  enormously  stimulated  immigration,  and  the 
development  of  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Valleys  went 
on  apace.  Population  rolled  up  rapidly.  Ohio,  for 
instance,  had  45,000  people  in  1800,  230,000  in  18 10, 
581,000  in  1820,  937,000  in  1830.  New  states  were 
formed  and  admitted  year  after  year.  Louisiana  came 
in  in  181 2,  followed  by  Indiana  in  1816,  Mississippi  in 
1817,  Illinois  in  1818,  Alabama  in  1819,  Maine  (before 
that  merely  a  district  of  Massachusetts)  in  1820,  Mis- 
souri in  1 82 1. 

This  great  development,  of  the  New  West  naturally 
stimulated  still  greater  improvement  in  transportation. 
The  rising  manufactures  in  the  East  sought  a  market  in 
the  West,  and  the  excitement  over  steam  and  its 
opening  possibilities  greatly  intensified  the  eager  interest 
in  finding  new  outlets.  One  of  the  first  and  greatest  of 
these  was  the  Erie  Canal,  connecting  tide  water  at 
Albany  with  the  Great  Lakes  at  Buffalo.  The  first  earth 
was  turned  by  Governor  DeWitt  Clinton,  who  was  to  the 
end  the  earnest  and  powerful  patron  of  the  undertaking, 
on  July  4,  1817,  and  the  canal  was  completed  in 
October,  1825.  It  may  be  noted  that  the  peculiar 
exigencies  of  New  York  politics  had  again  made  Clinton 
governor  in  the  latter  year,  so  that  he  most  appro- 
priately presided  over  the  festivities  which  celebrated 
the  occasion — with  his  own  hands  pouring  into  the 
ocean  casks  of  water  which  had  been  brought  in  a  boat 
from  Lake  Erie. 


The  National  Republicans.  209 


The  success  of  the  canal  was  instantaneous.  Within  Brilliant  suc- 
ten  years  the  tolls  had  paid  the  cost  of  construction.  At  '^^^^^ 
once  the  land  of  western  New  York  and  that  on  the 
shores  of  the  Great  Lakes  were  in  reach  of  a  market. 
Before  the  canal  was  built  the  expense  of  transportation 
from  Buffalo  to  New  York  was  $100  per  ton  and  the 
time  was  twenty  days.  Freight  rates  immediately 
dropped  to  $14  a  ton  and  the  trip  was  made  in  a  third 
of  the  time.  The  tide  of  travel  at  once  poured  through 
the  canal.  In  18 19  the  first  steamer  was  put  on  Lake 
Erie.  After  1825  the  number  was  greatly  increased. 
And  now  northern  Ohio,  Michigan,  and  northern  Indi- 
ana and  Illinois,  began  to  fill  with  people. 

The  life  of  these  settlers  was  rough  ;  they  endured  corn, 
many  hardships,  and  yet  they  enjoyed  a  rude  plenty. 
The  universal  crop                    ---— ^_- 
was    Indian  corn;                     ^— ^-^^'^"- 
the   universal   do- 
mestic animal  was 
the  swine.       And 
hog    and    hominy  ^        __^  

were    the    staple  ^  ^f^E^j^^^^?!    .'^. 
diet  of  the  South-  1"  ^        ~"    «"'  ^^^=^^  ■:r;-^_   i_  -.^_  ^ 
west,  as  were  corn-     '^^    ,    _.  z-^z===-^'~ 

meal  mush  and  salt  -  '^  -- 

1     •      ^t-     AT      i-i-  Settler's  Log  Cabin. 

pork  m  the  North- 
west. To  be  sure,  the  Ohio  pioneers  raised  wheat,  and 
the  Kentuckians  made  crops  of  cotton  and  tobacco. 
But  after  all  Indian  corn  in  some  shape  was  universally 
consumed.  Whether  it  was  corn  ground  into  meal,  or 
corn  animated,  walking  around  in  the  shape  of  swine,  or 
pickled  and  smoked,  as  side  pork  and  bacon,  or  corn 
liquid,  distilled  into  whisky,  all  was  corn,  and  all  formed 
the  western  staple  of  subsistence. 


2IO  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


The  high  tariff 

of  1828. 


All  this  is  indicative  of  a  rude  and  hard  existence. 
The  whole  West  was  a  democracy,  somewhat  rough, 
but  instinct  with  life  and  energy.  And  it  added  a 
strong  tonic  to  the  political  and  social  thinking  of  the  re- 
public. 

In  the  midst  of  this  eager  and  vigorous  expansion  of 
American  society  the  term  of  President  Adams  drew  to 
a  close.  The  opposition  in  Congress  had  succeeded  in 
baffling  nearly  all  his  ambitions.  In  the  spring  of  1828 
a  new  tariff  act  became  law.  This  was  now  highly  pro- 
tective— the  thirty-three  and  one  third  per  cent  duties  of 
1824  reaching  forty  and  forty-five  per  cent.  The  fate- 
ful consequences  of  this  tariff  will  appear  when  we  come 
to  examine  the  nullification  question  of  1832-33. 

But  the  well-organized  opposition  had  succeeded  in 
breaking  down  the  administration  in  the  popular  regard. 
Mr.  Adams  desired  a  reelection.  But  he  wanted  it  as 
an  expression  of  popular  approval  of  his  administration, 
and  he  would  not  lift  a  finger  to  affect  the  course  of  poli- 
tics. He  would  not  remove  federal  office-holders  who 
opposed  him.  He  would  make  no  appointments  to  aid 
his  canvass.  Public  office  he  regarded  as  wholly  a  pub- 
lic matter,  and  officers  as  absolutely  entitled  to  independ- 
ence in  political  action.  He  would  not  make  stump 
speeches,  regarding  it  as  undignified  and  improper. 

The  opposition  had  no  such  scruples.  The  Jackson 
and  Crawford  men  had  united  in  the  interest  of  General 
Jackson,  with  that  astute  wire-puller,  Van  Buren  of  New 
York,  as  one  of  the  leading  spirits.  And  so  efficient 
a  machine  was  constructed  that  Mr.  Adams  was  easily 
defeated.  He  had  only  eighty-three  electoral  votes, 
to  one  hundred  seventy-eight  for  Jackson.  South  of 
the  Potomac  and  west  of  the  Alleghenies  Adams  did  not 
get  one  elector.     Pennsylvania  cast  101,652  votes  for 


The  Natio7ial  Republicans. 


211 


Jackson  and  50,848  for  Adams.  Tennessee  gave  44,293 
for  the  old  general,  and  2,240  for  Adams.  Parton  tells 
of  an  attempt  in  a  Tennessee  village  to  tar  and  feather 
two  men  who  voted  for  Adams. 

Thus  one  of  the  best  and  purest  of  our  presidents  was 
relegated  to  private  life,  and  a  choleric  Indian  fighter 
was  put  in  his  place. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 


LOCAL    LIFE. 


Balance  of 
central 
authority  and 
local  independ- 
ence. 


References. — Fiske  :  Civil  Gov ertimeiit  in  the  United  States; 
Cooke  :  Virginia,  in  the  Commonwealth  Series  ;  Howard  : 
Local  Constitutional  History  of  the  United  States. 

There  is  nothing  more  characteristic  of  the  American 
social  organization  than  the  balance  everywhere  pre- 
served between  local  independence  and  general  au- 
thority. Were  such  a  device  imposed  on  a  nation  arti- 
ficially it  is  hardly  likely  that  it  would  work.  Either  ex- 
cess of  local  autonomy  would  result  in  political  chaos,  or 
the  central  power  would  gradually  absorb  local  freedom. 
Again,  even  if  a  balanced  system  is  the  growth  of  natural 
conditions,  it  is  quite  likely  to  take  a  direction  which 
tends  to  destroy  the  equilibrium,  and  to  result  in  con- 
fusion or  autocracy.  In  a  rough  sort  of  way  the  feudal 
institutions  of  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages  are  somewhat 
analogous  to  our  American  federal  republic.  But  In  Ger- 
many the  tendency  to  local  independence  prevailed,  and 
the  central  authority  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  be- 
came a  shadow,  while  in  France  the  crown  gradually 
succeeded  in  drawing  to  itself  the  authority  of  the  local 
feudal  lords,  and  then  of  the  municipalities,  and  under 
Louis  XIV.  despotism  became  complete.  But  in  our 
century  of  republican  life  the  oscillations  between  cen- 
tralization and  local  freedom  have  not  proved  destruc- 
tive of  either.  It  Is  true  that  the  national  authority  has 
become  vastly  more  definite  and  more  extensive  than  was 
the  case  at  the  outset.     But  after  all  this  growth  has  been 


Local  Life.  213 


kept  within  certain  quite  clearly  defined  limits,  which  it 
does  not  seem  at  all  likely  to  pass.  And,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  most  powerful  disruptive  force  which  could  be 
exerted  by  excess  of  local  energy  proved  inadequate  to 
destroy  the  Union.  And  so  the  equipoise  of  sun  and 
planets  in  the  solar  system  is  perhaps  no  strained  simile 
for  this  union  of  states  in  our  federally  organized  nation. 

The  form  of  life  which  results  from  a  system  like  this 
is  materially  different  from  what  one  may  find  in  a  nation  Fullness  ofiocai 
wholly  centralized.  It  has  been  said  that  Paris  is  France. 
But  Washington  is  not  a  power.  It  is  a  mere  con- 
venience. From  Paris  radiate  all  the  innumerable  lines  of 
authority  which  control  the  French  social  and  political 
organism.  In  the  United  States  a  vigorous,  independent 
life  is  going  on  in  nearly  half  a  hundred  distinct  groups, 
entirely  aside  from  the  common  life  which  unites  both 
individuals  and  groups  into  the  nation.  A  large  variety 
of  social  interests  is  left  wholly  in  the  hands  of  the  local 
groups.  The  family  relation,  education,  the  ordinary 
police,  the  settlement  of  nearly  all  business  complications, 
public  charity — in  short,  nearly  the  whole  field  of  civil 
and  criminal  legislation,  with  the  administrative  busi- 
ness and  judicial  determinations  resulting — are  left  un- 
touched by  the  national  authorities.  And  so  there  is  en- 
tire freedom  to  treat  these  multifarious  affairs  according 
to  the  peculiar  notions  or  to  the  local  conditions  which 
prevail  in  different  sections  of  the  republic.  Uniformity 
throughout  the  nation  is  of  the  essence  of  centralization. 
But  the  American  idea  is  that  uniformity  is  absolutely 
non-essential  except  in  such  things  as  of  themselves 
necessarily  involve  the  whole  people. 

One  great  result  of  this  wide  diffusion  of  civic  life  is   R^guHj^ 
the  fact  that  shock  to  the  social  system  is  much  less  likely   u^jjjjf  ^'  °^  ^^^ 
to  result  in  general  political  paralysis.     There  may  be 


214 


The   Growth  of  the  American  Natioji. 


Local  contests 
an  escape-valve. 


The  states. 


Their  source. 


New  York. 


serious  disturbance  in  one  part  of  the  republic  without 
of  necessity  involving  other  parts.  Each  state  is  a  sort  of 
local  safety-valve  for  the  escape  of  surplus  political  steam, 
and  even  the  conquest  of  any  one  portion  of  the  states 
would  by  no  means  imply  the  subjugation  of  the  rest. 
Often  in  European  wars  the  fall  of  the  national  capital 
has  been  followed  quickly  by  submission  to  the  Invader. 
When  the  British  took  Washington,  in  1814,  they  ac- 
complished less  than  if  they  had  succeeded  in  seizing 
any  one  of  a  dozen  other  towns.  Every  state  in  the 
Union  is  a  fully  organized  center  of  military  as  well  as  of 
civil  life.  The  fact  is  that  the  republic  has  no  one  heart 
a  wound  to  whicli  is  fatal.  It  has  as  many  hearts  as 
there  are  states,  and  yet  It  is  the  common  blood  which 
circulates  through  all. 

The  unit  of  our  national  organization  is  the  state. 
We  began  with  thirteen,  we  had  twenty-four  when  An- 
drew Jackson  became  president,  and  Utah  will  make  the 
forty-fifth. 

The  origin  of  this  local  subdivision  of  the  nation  goes 
back  to  the  circumstances  which  led  to  the  formation  of 
distinct  English  colonies  on  the  American  coast.  While 
substantially  of  one  race,  yet  the  settlers  were  quite  dif- 
ferent in  political  and  religious  ideas,  and  each  separate 
colony  was  from  the  first  under  its  own  auspices.  Had 
England  colonized  America  in  accordance  with  a  defi- 
nite plan,  it  is  likely  that  there  would  have  been  an 
initial  unity  which  probably  would  have  given  a  different 
trend  to  the  colonies  and  hence  to  the  republic. 

An  example  of  the  mode  in  which  the  people  of  the 
various  states  conducted  their  common  concerns  Is 
afforded  by  New  York.  When  the  Continental  Con- 
gress adopted  resolutions  favoring  Independence,  it  at 
the  same  time  recommended  the  states  to  provide  them- 


Local  Life.  215 


selves  each  with  a  frame  of  government  suited  to  its 
needs.  The  revolutionary  legislature  of  New  York 
promptly  appointed  a  committee  for  this  purpose,  but 
the  pressure  of  the  war  prevented  a  report  until  the 
spring  of  1777.  At  that  time  the  new  frame  of  govern-  Constitution  of 
ment  was  adopted,  the  legislature  ratifying  the  commit- 
tee's report  without  referring  it  to  the  people.  This 
constitution  was  the  organic  law  of  the  state  for  nearly 
half  a  century.  It  provided  a  legislature  of  two  houses, 
the  upper,  the  Senate,  chosen  by  the  four  great  districts 
into  which  the  state  was  divided,  the  lower,  the  Assembly, 
chosen  by  smaller  districts. 

The  executive  was  a  governor,  elected  by  the  people 
for  three    years.      There  was    provision    for   a  series  of  The  executive, 
courts  of  law,  with  a  supreme   court  at  the  head,  and 
for  a  chancellor,    as  a  court  of  equity.      These  were  to 
hold  for  the  term  of  good  behavior. 

Suffrage  was  carefully  limited.  Only  freeholders  worth 
;^ioo  could  vote  for  governor  or  senators,  and  freehold- 
ers worth  j[^2o  for  assemblymen.  At  the  same  time  the 
progressive  spirit  of  the  framers  was  shown  by  a  provis- 
ion for  testing  the  method  of  voting  by  ballot,  which,  it 
was  said,  divers  of  the  good  people  of  the  state  had  long 
had  the  opinion  would  tend  more  to  preserve  the  equal 
freedom  of  the  people  than  voting  viva  voce. 

The  people  had  no  pleasing  recollection  of  the  au- 
thority of  the  colonial  governor,  and  so  the  powers  of  The  veto, 
that  officer  in  the  state  were  closely  restricted.  The 
veto  power,  in  the  form  in  which  it  is  now  possessed  by 
the  president  of  the  United  States,  was  vested,  not  in 
the  governor  alone,  but  in  a  council  of  revision,  com- 
posed of  the  governor,  the  judges  of  the  supreme  court, 
and  the  chancellor.  And  the  appointing  power  was 
given  to  a  council,  composed  of  the  governor  and  four 


2i6  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


The  council  of 
appointments. 


New  York 
politics. 


Origin  of 
spoils  politics. 


senators,  the  latter  chosen  annually,  one  from  each  Sen- 
ate district,  by  the  Assembly.  The  powers  of  the  coun- 
cil of  appointment  were  very  great.  The  only  public 
officers  chosen  by  popular  election  were  the  governor 
and  the  legislature.  A  few  were  selected  by  the  legis- 
lature. But  the  council  of  appointment  named  all  the 
judges,  all  the  justices  of  the  peace,  all  the  mayors  of 
cities,  all  the  sheriffs. 

Under  this  highly  centralized  and  rather  aristocratic 
constitution  the  politics  of  New  York  soon  proved  as 
vigorous  and  influential  as  in  our  own  day.  The  first 
governor  was  George  Clinton,  who  turned  out  to  be  a 
sturdy  Anti-Federalist  and  a  stanch  adherent  of  Jeffer- 
son in  forming  the  new  Republican  party.  Governor 
Clinton  held  the  chair  for  six  successive  terms,  being 
succeeded  in  1795  by  John  Jay,  the  first  chief  justice  of 
the  United  States,  who  came  into  office  on  the  rising  tide 
of  Federalism.  Governor  Jay  was  reelected  in  1798, 
but  in  turn  was  succeeded  in  1801  by  Clinton.  With 
the  exception  of  the  six  years  of  Jay's  administration, 
the  state  steadily  elected  governors  of  the  same  political 
faith  from  1777  until  1838,  when  William  H.  Seward  was 
chosen  by  the  Whigs. 

The  council  of  appointments  proved  in  the  end  a 
most  pernicious  device.  With  each  change  of  factions 
in  the  Assembly  the  council  swept  out  of  office  a  host  of 
their  opponents  and  replaced  them  by  others  of  their 
own  stripe.  This  practice  became  especially  common 
after  Governor  Clinton  and  Governor  Jay  had  retired 
from  the  scene,  and  after  the  Tammany  society,  origi- 
nally merely  a  benevolent  organization,  had,  largely  by 
the  ingenuity  of  Aaron  Burr,  been  converted  into  a 
political  machine.  By  these  means  the  spoils  system 
became  thoroughly  intrenched  in  New  York  politics. 


Local  Life. 


217 


In  1 82 1  the  people  chose  a  constitutional  convention 
which  made  some  material  changes  in  the  organic  law. 
The  council  of  appointments  was  swept  away,  the  ap- 
pointing power  being  divided  among  the  governor,  the 
legislature,  and  the  people.  The  governor  was  given 
the  veto  power,  suffrage  was  made  uniform  and  was  ex- 
tended to  all  taxpayers,  and  the  courts  were  largely  re- 


New  consti- 
tution of  New 
York  in  1821. 


The  Erie  Canal  at  Buffalo. 

constructed.      Five  years  later  the  property  qualification 
was  removed  from  suffrage,  except  for  colored  voters. 

Through  all  these  years  the  state  had  been  steadily 
growing  in  population  and  wealth.  The  western  wilder- 
ness filled  with  settlers,  and  the  great  forests  were  re- 
placed by  fields  of  wheat  and  corn.  A  prominent  means 
of  advancing  this  material  development  was  the  Erie 
Canal.  Its  results  on  the  development  of  the  West 
can  only  be  compared  with  those  of  the  Pacific  railroads 
in  later  years.  New  York  State  reaped  the  first  bene- 
fits, both  in  the  rapid  growth  of  its  great  seaport,  which 


The  Erie 
Canal ;  see 
p.  208. 


2i8  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Rapid  growth 
of  New  York. 


Education. 


Banks. 


Courts. 


now  became  the  one  outlet  of  western  traffic,  and  in  the 
settlement  of  its  own  western  counties.  New  York  was 
the  fifth  state  in  population  in  1790,  the  third  in  1800, 
the  second  in  18 10,  and  in  1820  it  became  the  first.  But 
in  the  decade  from  1820  to  1830,  Virginia,  which  until 
1820  had  been  the  most  populous  state  in  the  Union, 
increased  only  about  twenty  per  cent,  while  New  York 
increased  nearly  fifty  per  cent. 

Not  only  did  the  state  develop  in  its  canals  and  turn- 
pikes, its  own  system  of  communication,  but  it  also  cre- 
ated its  own  means  of  public  education,  its  own  banking 
institutions,  and  its  own  jurisprudence. 

Various  acts  of  the  legislature  for  the  aid  of  education 
culminated  in  181 3  in  the  appointment  of  a  state  super- 
intendent of  common  schools,  under  whose  efficient 
management  a  system  of  primary  education  was  success- 
fully organized.  And  the  colleges,  which  had  been 
founded  largely  by  private  beneficence,  received  also 
various  sums  from  the  legislature — a  favorite  means  of 
aiding  them  being  the  grant  of  a  lottery. 

Banks,  in  the  early  history  of  the  state,  were  thought 
of  as  favors  to  be  granted  to  political  adherents.  And 
accordingly  certain  institutions  were  customarily  re- 
garded as  Federalist  banks,  or  Republican  banks,  as 
the  case  might  be,  and  they  were  apt  to  confine  dis- 
counts to  those  of  their  own  party.  And  so  acute  were 
the  struggles  in  the  legislature  for  these  privileges,  and 
so  much  scandal  resulted,  that  in  1821  the  new  consti- 
tution made  a  two  thirds  vote  of  each  House  a  requisite 
to  any  such  charter.  It  was  not  until  1838  that  the  busi- 
ness was  thrown  open  to  all  on  the  same  conditions. 

The  courts  of  New  York  have  developed  a  body  of 
legal  science  which  is  followed  in  the  practice  of  nearly 
all  the  states.      The  great  names  of  Jay,    Livingston, 


Local  Life. 


219 


and   Kent  would  illustrate   the   bench   of  any   country. 

But  in  every  state  there  is  a  unit  of  local  life  yet 
nearer  the  people.  In  New  England  it  is  the  town. 
The  first  settlers  grouped  themselves  in  the  wilderness 
around  the  church.  Their  dwellings  were  near  together, 
for  convenience  of  united  defense  against  the  Indians. 
Thus  a  village  was  formed,  which  was  in  fact  but  a 
church,  organized  ecclesiastically  for  worship,  as  a  civil 
community  for  the  transaction  of  common  affairs,  and 
as  an  armed  force  for  military  protection.  The  pastor 
was  preeminent  in  authority.  But  yet  the  village  was  a 
democracy,  in  which  each  freeman  had  an  equal  voice. 
And  in  the  mass  meeting  of  freemen  the  general  busi- 
ness was  done,  officers  were  chosen,  taxes  were  levied, 
representatives  elected  to  the  General  Court.  And  this 
assembly,  at  the  outset  the  result  of  the  peculiar  condi- 
tions of  the  immigrants,  became  the  distinctive  feature 
of  New  England  public  organization  — the  town-meeting. 
And  it  was  only  reluctantly  that  with  great  increase  of  pop- 
ulation a  representative  city  government  was  substituted 
in  the  larger  towns.     Boston  only  became  a  city  in  1821. 

In  the  South  the  unit  was  the  county.  The  southern 
immigrants  settled  on  plantations,  each  with  its  cluster 
of  dwellings  for  the  white  household  and  the  black 
slaves,  but  the  clusters  scattered  over  a  wide  area.  A 
mass  meeting  of  freemen  for  many  purposes  w^as  im- 
practicable. Naturally  most  of  the  common  business  was 
delegated  to  officers  chosen  for  the  purpose.  The 
county  organization  was  the  political  unit,  as  the  planta- 
tion was  the  social  unit.  And  the  Episcopal  Church, 
which  in  colonial  times  was  so  powerful  in  the  Southern 
States,  was  quite  different  from  the  Congregational 
democracy  of  New  England.  Hence,  in  the  South  the 
town  hardly  appears  at  all. 


The  town- 
meeting. 


The  southern 
county. 


220  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


The  Middle 
States. 


Home  rule. 


Its  value. 


In  the  South  the  town-meeting  does  not  exist,  and  in 
New  England  the  county  cuts  Httle  figure.  New  York 
adopted  a  compromise  system.  The  town  manages  its 
own  affairs,  quite  after  the  New  England  method. 
Each  town  elects  a  supervisor  and  all  the  supervisors 
thus  chosen  in  a  county  form  a  county  board,  with 
large  legislative  and  administrative  functions.  The 
county  also  has  a  judicial  and  administrative  staff — • 
county  judge,  surrogate,  clerk,  treasurer,  sheriff,  and 
others.  It  was  a  long  step  in  the  direction  of  home  rule 
when  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1821  transferred 
the  choice  of  these  officers,  or  the  most  of  them,  to  the 
people  of  the  counties  respectively. 

In  Pennsylvania  the  town  has  essentially  the  New 
England  organization,  but  the  county  board,  unlike  the 
New  York  supervisor  system,  consists  of  a  few  repre- 
sentatives elected  from  the  county  at  large. 

By  a  glance  at  this  system  it  will  be  seen  that  the 
people  of  the  United  States  are  thoroughly  imbued  with 
the  idea  of  home  rule.  This  in  New  York  became  fully 
established  only  after  the  Revolution  had  freed  the  col- 
ony from  the  status  of  a  crown  dependency.  Home 
rule  was  no  part  of  the  Dutch  policy,  and  was  only  par- 
tially and  grudgingly  conceded  by  the  English  adminis- 
tration. Thus  that  state  continued  under  aristocratic 
methods  and  reached  full  popular  sovereignty  and  local 
self-government  rather  slowly. 

But  it  will  be  seen  that  the  constant  practice  of  man- 
aging public  affairs  in  which  one's  interests  are  closely 
concerned  gives  an  experience  and  confidence  which  are 
the  foundations  of  success  in  a  democratic  republic. 

Emigrants  from  the  East  and  the  South  carried  with 
them  to  their  new  home  the  habits  and  methods  with 
which  they  were  familiar.     Thus  in  the  Northwestern 


Local  Life.  221 


States  in  general  the  local  methods  of  the  Middle  States  The  East  and 
and  New  England  are  in  vogue,   while  in    Kentucky,    dScedhuh^ 
Tennessee,  and  the  Southwest  the  southern  county  is  the  ^^^^' 
unit.     Illinois  was  originally  settled  in  its  southern  por- 
tion by  Americans  from   Kentucky,   who  brought  the 
county  idea  with  them.     Later  settlers  came  by  way  of 
the  lakes  to  the  northern  part,  and  there  the  town  was 
planted.     So  this  state  has  the  anomalous  plan  of  a  dual 
organization,  some  counties  having  the  southern  system 
of  county  government  and  others  the  town  organization. 

The  striking  fact  in  all  the  new  states  of  the  Union  is 
the  reproduction  everywhere  of  local  home  rule.  The 
free  school,  the  church  separate  from  state  support,  the 
town  or  county,  each  controlled  by  those  immediately 
concerned — these  are  the  essence  of  the  American  system. 

Local  pride  is  a  large  factor  in  the  life  of  the  republic. 
The  people  as  a  rule  are  attached  to  the  institutions  of  j^^^^j  ^.j^^ 
their  own  state.  In  the  great  western  cities  there  are 
thriving  social  associations  composed  of  natives  of  Maine, 
of  New  York,  or  of  other  Eastern  States.  Naturally  it 
is  the  older  states  which  have  gathered  about  them  the 
most  of  sentiment,  as  in  the  West  the  population  often 
has  not  had  time  to  strike  its  roots  very  deep  into  the 
soil.  And  in  the  South  state  pride  has  from  the  first  |J3f '"  *^® 
been  much  stronger  than  in  the  North — stronger  even 
than  national  patriotism,  as  was  seen  in  1861.  This 
doubtless  was  partly  due  to  the  relative  fixity  of  southern 
society — a  condition  which  since  the  great  industrial 
changes  caused  by  the  Civil  War  has  been  materially 
altered.  Local  pride  in  the  cities  is  a  powerful  force  in 
their  development.  Yet,  on  the  whole,  American  ex- 
perience has  shown  that  local  spirit  is  only  a  specialized 
form  of  that  larger  patriotism  which  is  the  life-blood  of 
the  republic. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 


ANDREW    JACKSON    AND    NULLIFICATION. 


The  new 
democracy. 


Jackson's  per- 
sonality. 


References. — Schouler  ;  Sumner  :  Jackson ;  Schurz  :  C/ay; 
Von  Hoist  :  Calhoun;  Von  Hoist  :  United  States. 

With  the  election  of  Andrew  Jackson  to  the  presi- 
dency there  came  to  the  national  administration  a  new 
party,  a  new  personality,  a  new  policy. 

The  old  Democratic  Republican  party  of  Jefferson  had 
passed  through  decided  changes.  The  resistless  demo- 
cratic sweep  of  the  times  had  carried  the  nation  with  it, 
and  society  was  everywhere  democratic.  The  party 
more  and  more  assumed  the  name  * '  Democratic, ' '  and 
after  the  election  of  Jackson  that  name  became  the  usual 
one,  and  the  name  indicated  the  fact.  It  was  the  new 
democracy  which  invaded  the  White  House  with  the  old 
Tennessee  Indian  fighter.  And  it  was  organized  anew. 
The  skill  of  Martin  Van  Buren  was  transferred  from  New 
York  to  the  nation,  and  it  availed  to  construct  a  party 
machine  of  rare  perfection.  And  this  skilful  organiza- 
tion, backed  by  the  vast  popularity  of  the  old  hero,  was 
invincible. 

None  of  our  presidents  has  more  impressed  his  per- 
sonality on  history  than  did  Andrew  Jackson.  Wash- 
ington, Jefferson,  and  Lincoln,  each  in  his  own  way,  most 
powerfully  influenced  the  destiny  of  the  republic.  Wash- 
ington made  the  republic  possible,  Jefferson  made  it 
popular,  Lincoln  made  it  permanent.  And  yet  in  more 
bold  relief  than  any  of  these  stands  out  against  the  back- 


Andrew  Jackson  ajid  Nullification. 


223 


ground  of  his  times  the  rugged  and  unique  character  of 
Jackson. 

Some  common  impressions  of  that  character  perhaps 
need  correction — one  at  least. 

He  was  attacked  by  his  enemies  as  a  "  miHtary  chief- 
tain," and  certainly  nothing  weighed  more  in  the  popu- 
lar mind  at  the  time  than  his  brilliant  and  crushing  vic- 
tory at  New  Orleans.  In  short,  we  are  apt  to  class  him 
in  a  certain  way 
with  Napoleon,  as 
a  professional  sol- 
dier who  by  his 
military  glory  was 
elevated  to  power 
in  civil  life. 

In  point  of  fact 
Jackson's  military 
life,  so  far  as  actual 
war  is  concerned, 
was  very  brief.  He 
was  not  educated 
for  the  army.  Be- 
fore the  War  of 
18 1 2  he  was  a  law- 
yer, a  planter,  a 
politician.  And  it 
was  in  this  last 
capacity  that  he 
secured  an  ap- 
pointment as 
major-general  o  f 
the  Tennessee 
militia — a  position  which  he  held  for  several  years,  and 
which  in    ' '  piping  times    of  peace ' '    is    certainly  suffi- 


Andrew  Jackson. 

Born,  1767;  died,  1845.  Lawyer;  member  of  Con- 
gress from  Tennessee,  1797;  U.  S.  senator,  1797-8; 
judge,  Tennessee  Supreme  Court,  1798-1804; 
major-general  of  Tennessee  militia,  1801-14  ;  vic- 
torious campaign  against  the  Indians,  1813-14; 
major-general,  U.  S.  A.,  1814;  victory  of  New 
Orleans,  1815  ;  governor  of  Florida,  1821-3  ;  U.  S. 
senator  from  Tennessee,  1823-5  ;  president  of  the 
United  States,  1829-37. 


"A  military 
chieftain." 


His  military 
record. 


224  '^h^  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


ciently  innocuous.  When  the  war  broke  out  the  United 
States  had  practically  no  army,  and  of  course  the  militia 
was  at  once  called  on  for  service.  This  service  on  the  Ten- 
nessee frontier  consisted  in  an  expedition  against  the  hos- 
tile Alabama  Indians — an  expedition  which  the  militia 
general  led  with  entire  success.  After  only  seven  months 
of  campaigning,  the  broken  remnant  of  the  savages  made 
a  treaty  of  peace  on  the  Hickory  ground,  and  the  war 
was  ended.  This  was  in  the  spring  of  1814.  As  a  re- 
ward for  this  brilliant  Indian  campaign  Jackson  was  ap- 
pointed major-general  in  the  regular  army  of  the  United 
States  and  given  command  in  the  Southwest.  And  in 
the  following  January  his  indomitable  energy,  aided  by 
the  perverse  blundering  of  the  British  generals,  enabled 
him  to  close  the  War  of  181 2  with  a  decisive  victory. 
This  was  his  last  battle. 

Jackson's  military  life,  then,  was  all  included  in  about 
eighteen  months  of  service  in  war.  He  fought  only  one 
battle  with  white  men,  and  at  the  time  he  fought  his  first 
battle  with  the  Indians  he  was  over  forty-five  years  old. 

The  general  had  not  had  the  benefit  of  education  and 
wide  experience  of  the  world,  like  Jefferson  and  John 
Quincy  Adams,  nor  had  he  the  indomitable  thirst  for 
knowledge  of  Lincoln.  But  what  he  did  know  he  knew 
clearly,  and  perhaps  it  was  this  fact  which  made  him  so 
positive  in  all  of  his  many  opinions.  He  always  knew 
that  he  was  right — whether  he  was  or  not. 

This  characteristic  positiveness  was  accompanied  by 
three  kindred  qualities,  directness,  tenacity,  pugnacity. 
If  he  thought  a  given  end  desirable  he  always  moved 
straight  toward  it  by  the  shortest  path.  With  delay  and 
roundabout  methods  he  had  no  patience.  Obstacles 
merely  enraged  him — they  never  discouraged  him.  In- 
deed, when  anything  got  in  his  way  his  only  thought  was 


Combativeness. 


Andrew  Jackso7i  and  Nullification.  225 

to  smash  it,  and  smash  it  he  usually  did,  sooner  or  later. 
When  his  mind  was  open  on  any  subject,  it  was  not 
difficult  for  a  friend  to  influence  him.  But  when  he  had  Tenacity. 
once  reached  a  conclusion,  a  friend  rarely,  and  a  foe 
never,  could  induce  him  to  reconsider.  An  idea  which 
crystallized  in  his  thoughts  became  like  adamant. 

Differenceof  opinion  he  could  not  tolerate.  Though 
the  question  were  the  most  abstract,  it  mattered  not. 
Lack  of  agreement  was  lack  of  friendship.  Lack  of 
friendship  was  enmity,  and  with  an  enemy  he  had  always 
but  one  course — instant,  open,  and  ceaseless  war. 

With  this  positive,  straightforward,  and  combative  dis- 
position were  joined  entire  honesty,  unflinching  courage, 
and  great  kindness  and  loyalty  to  all  who  won  his  friend- 
ship. 

Now  it  is  evident  that  these  are  qualities  of  a  man  of 
action,  but  not  such  as  would  necessarily  fit  one  to  deal 
with  complex  and  delicate  questions.  But  it  is  just 
these  strong  and  elementary  traits  that  seize  the  popular 
fancy.  And  so  in  all  our  national  history  no  other  hero 
or  statesman  has  ever  had  such  a  hold  on  the  plain  peo- 
ple as  did  Andrew  Jackson.  They  admired  him  and 
loved  him  and  trusted  him.  Whether  he  was  right  in 
his  view  of  the  facts  or  sound  in  his  judgment  they 
hardly  questioned.  Their  conclusive  answer  to  all  cavil 
was,  "  Hurrah  for  Jackson." 

The  question  at  issue  in  1 828  which  determined  the  elec-  consolidation 
tion  of  Jackson  was  mainly  personal.  It  was  not  National  J'ra^tronlSrty!' 
Republican  policies  which  were  defeated  so  much  as 
it  was  Adams  and  Clay.  Low  tarifl"  men  in  the  South 
and  high  tariff"  men  in  Pennsylvania  united  against  the 
administration.  And  to  weld  together  these  and  all  the 
other  incoherent  elements  of  opposition  which  were  now 
triumphant  was  the  first  task  of  the  victors.     To  that 


Popularity. 


226  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


The  civil  serv- 
ice. 


The  spoils 
system. 


Schurz's 
"Clay 


I-,  334- 


end  the  first  message  of  the  new  president,  in  1829,  was 
made  non-committal  on  the  burning  questions  of  tariff 
and  internal  improvements.  But  first  of  all  the  methods 
of  the  New  York  political  machine  were  applied  to  the 
federal  administration. 

It  had  been  the  common  understanding  up  to  this  time 
that  the  national  civil  service  was  a  life  profession.  Those 
who  entered  it  gave  up  private  business  and  expected 
undisturbed  tenure  in  return  for  faithful  performance  of 
duty.  Even  cabinet  officers  often  were  not  changed  with 
a  change  of  administration.  But  the  Jackson  men  came 
into  power  with  new  theories.  In  their  view  the  national 
offices  were  primarily  the  property  of  the  victorious 
party,  to  be  used  as  rewards  for  political  service.  As 
Marcy  expressed  it  in  the  Senate  in  1830,  "  The  spoils 
of  the  enemy  belong  to  the  victors. ' '  And  the  victorious 
politicians  descended  on  Washington  like  a  flock  of  buz- 
zards. They  knew  that  there  were  friends  to  be  re- 
warded and  enemies  to  be  punished. 

During  the  forty  years  from  the  inauguration  of  Wash- 
ington to  that  of  Jackson,  the  presidents  had  in  all  re- 
moved seventy-four  persons  from  office,  mostly  for  mis- 
behavior or  incompetence.  Jackson  in  his  first  year  re- 
moved 491  postmasters  and  239  other  officers.  Includ- 
ing the  subordinates  necessarily  involved  with  their  prin- 
cipals, this  implied  about  2,000  changes.  And  thus  the 
pernicious  spoils  system  became  fixed  in  our  national 
politics.  It  has  embittered  political  strife,  corrupted  and 
enfeebled  the  public  service,  and  debased  the  public  con- 
science. It  has  reacted  disastrously  on  the  conduct  of 
state  and  local  affairs.  In  fact,  it  is  not  an  exaggeration 
to  say  that  it  has  proved  one  of  the  gravest  dangers  to 
which  our  experiment  of  republican  government  has  been 
exposed.     And  this  evil  legacy  from  Jackson's  time  is 


Andrew  Jackso7i  and  Nullification, 


227 


yet  largely  with   us.     But  it  served  its  purpose  at  the 
time  in  welding  together  a  compact  political  machine. 

It  might  be  added  here  that  President  Jackson's  first 
cabinet  went  to  pieces  in  a  couple  of  years,  and  was  re-  The  cabinet 
constructed  on  the  same  principle  as  the  rest  of  the  civil 
service — unquestioned  devotion  to  the  chief  But  this 
particular  upheaval  arose  from  other  than  political  causes 
— in  short,  from  a  war  among  the  cabinet  ladies.     We 


UNITED   STATES 
IN  1830. 


Andrew  Jackson's  Administration. 


E3  Territories 
^  British  PokB. 
IHTTl  Spanish  Posh. 


need  not  dwell  on  the  details.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  the 
battles  were  relentless  and  terrific.  Jackson  could  never 
keep  out  of  a  fight,  and  soon  he  was  in  the  hottest  of 
this.  But  the  enraged  and  puzzled  old  hero  found  that 
he  was  dealing  with  an  enemy  more  formidable  than 
Alabama  savages  or  British  grenadiers.  The  victor  of 
New  Orleans  was  ingloriously  routed.  But  great  was 
the  ruin.  The  cabinet  was  disrupted.  Vice-president 
Calhoun  lost  his  chance  of  being  Jackson's  successor. 


ackson  routed 
ly  the  ladies. 


228  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


The  tariff. 


Act  of  1824. 
Moderate  pro- 
tection. 


Act  of  1828. 
High  pro- 
tection. 


Discontent  in 
the  South. 


Sly  Martin  Van  Buren  slipped  into  the  vice-presidency, 
and  then  succeeded  to  the  presidency.  And  at  least  a 
largely  contributing  cause  to  all  these  and  other  political 
upheavals  was  the  fact  that  Mrs.  Calhoun  and  other 
ladies  of  the  administration  declined  to  give  social  recog- 
nition to  the  wife  of  the  secretary  of  war. 

The  most  vital  questions  of  Jackson's  first  term  were 
connected  with  the  tariff.  The  moderately  protective 
tariff  of  1824  had  been  enacted  by  a  combination  of 
the  Central  and  Western  States,  and  had  been  opposed 
by  the  South  and  East.  But  New  England  had  then 
turned  largely  to  manufacturing,  and  so  many  of  her 
people  were  ready  to  join  with  the  other  sections  in 
favor  of  still  further  protection.  In  1828  a  new  bill  was 
passed,  considerably  increasing  the  duties.  The  woolen 
industry  demanded  more  effective  aid,  and  the  thirty- 
three  and  one  third  per  cent  rates  on  these  products 
were  accordingly  raised  to  over  forty  per  cent.  In 
order  to  obtain  this  advance  other  interests  were  helped 
in  proportion,  so  that  the  bill  received  the  support  of  all 
sections  of  the  Union  but  the  South  * — and  even  here 
the  sugar  cane  of  Louisiana  enlisted  that  state  on  the  side 
of  high  tariff.  The  average  rate  on  dutiable  goods  was 
made  over  forty-three  per  cent. 

But  the  other  Southern  States  saw  no  benefit  in  the 
new  measure.  It  was  plainly  a  tariff  primarily  for  pro- 
tection, as  more  revenue  was  not  needed.  The  cotton, 
tobacco,  and  rice  of  the  South  were  shipped  mainly  to 
Europe,  and  in  the  European  markets  the  price  of  these 
commodities  would  be  no  higher  by  reason  of  an  Amer- 
ican tariff.  On  the  other  hand,  the  high  duties  would 
tend  to  raise  the  price  of  all  manufactured  articles  which 
the  agricultural  states  might  consume.    So  for  the  South 

*  A  majority  from  New  England  was  against  it,  but  the  minority  was  large. 


Andrew  Jackson  and  Nullification.  229 

there  was  no  gain,  and  apparently  a  sure  loss — and  all 
for  the  benefit  of  other  sections. 

The  general   prosperity  of  the   Union  had   not  been 
shared  by  the  South  to  the  same  extent  as  by  the  North.    Lack  of  prog- 

•^  _  _  ■'  less  in  South- 

In   the  latter  section  wealth  and  population  had  gone  e''"  states. 

on  rolling  up  enormously.  Southern  states,  however, 
while  they  had  made  very  great  gains  from  the  vastly 
increased  production  of  cotton  made  possible  by  Whit- 
ney's invention  for  cleaning  it  from  the  seed,  still  had 
been  distanced  by  their  commercial  and  manufacturing 
fellow  states.  In  the  area  included  by  those  of  the  orig- 
inal thirteen  which  lay  south  of  Mason  and  Dixon's 
line  the  increase  of  population  between  1790  and  1820 
was  about  sixty  per  cent.  The  increase  north  of  that 
line  was  fully  twice  as  great.  In  the  North,  too,  the 
principal  seaports  were  rapidly  growing  into  great  cities, 
while  southern  towns  were  relatively  stagnant.  This 
disparity  in  progress  the  South  attributed  to  the  fostering 
care  of  government  directed  to  the  benefit  of  the  North. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  manufacturing  and 
commercial  states  were  stimulated  by  the  protective  sys- 
tem more  than  was  the  section  which  was  purely  agri-  Causes. 
cultural — and  all  the  more  in  the  case  of  such  staples  as 
cotton,  of  which  the  principal  market  was  found  in 
Europe.  However,  the  effects  of  the  institution  of 
slave  labor  were  really  adverse  to  the  section  which 
fostered  it,  and  equally,  of  course,  it  could  hardly  be 
expected  that  those  effects  should  be  clearly  understood      .     . 

.  .     .  Injustice  to  the 

at  the  time.     So  it  is  not  at  all  strange  that  the  southern  South, 
planting  states  should  regard  themselves  as  the  victims 
of  oppression. 

But  where  was    the    remedy?     Not  in  the  Supreme   The  remedy. 
Court,  as  Congress  by  the  constitution  was  vested  with 
the  power  ' '  to  lay  and  collect  taxes,  duties,  imposts,  and 


230  The  Growth  of  the  Arnerican  Nation. 


Kentucky  reso- 
lutions of  1798. 


excises,  to  pay  the  debts  and  provide  for  the  common 
defense  and  general  welfare  of  the  United  States  ' '  ;  and 
it  could  not  be  denied  that  the  tariff  laws  were,  in  the 
discretion  of  Congress,  enacted  for  these  constitutional 
purposes.  Apparently  not  in  the  national  legislature. 
New  England  originally  had  stood  by  the  South  in  op- 
position to  a  high  tariff.  In  other  words,  the  shipping 
and  agricultural  interests  were  combined  against  the 
manufacturers. 

Was  there,  then,  any  other  recourse  ? 

Calhoun  thought  that  he  found  a  solution  in  the  words 
of  the  Kentucky  resolutions  of  1798-99:  ''Resolved, 
.  that  whenever  the  general  government  as- 
sumes undelegated  powers,  its  acts  are  unauthoritative, 
void,  and  of  no  force ;  .  .  .  .  that  this  govern- 
ment, created  by  this  compact,  was  not  made  the  ex- 
clusive or  final  judge  of  the  extent  of  the  powers  dele- 
gated to  itself  ....  But  that,  as  in  all  other 
cases  of  compact  among  parties  having  no  common 
judge,  each  party  has  an  equal  right  to  judge  for  itself, 
as  well  of  infractions  as  of  the  mode  and  measure  of 
redress."  ''Resolved,  that  ....  the  several 
Kentucky  reso-  statcs  who  formed  that  instrument  being  sovereign  and 
independent,  have  the  unquestionable  right  to  judge  of 
the  infractions ;  and  that  a  nullification  by  those  sover- 
eignties ....  is  the  rightful  remedy."  The 
resolutions  of  1798  were  drafted  by  Jefferson.  And 
while  he  did  not  draw  those  of  1799,  we  know  that  in 
his  original  draft  in  the  previous  year  occur  substantially 
the  second  resolve  above  quoted,  including  both  the 
idea  and  the  word  nullification. 

And  the  right  to  make  laws  of  the  Union  null  and  void 
necessarily  implies  the  further  right  to  withdraw  from  the 
Union  if  any  state  should  deem  proper. 


lutions  of  1799. 


Nullification, 


Secession. 


Andrciv  Jackson  and  Nullijicaiion.  231 

Nullification  and  secession,  as  lawful  means  of  redress 
against  federal  oppression,  of  course  implied  a  concep- 
tion of  the  nature  of  the  constitution  very  different 
from  that  which  the  course  of  e\^ents  has  established. 
Calhoun  held  that  the  Union  was  a  compact  between 
equal  sovereign  states — that  each  state  was  the  final  [jfJ^J-""' 
arbiter,  so  far  as  it  was  concerned,  of  the  constitution- 
ality of  federal  statutes — and  that  any  state  had  a  right 
at  any  time  to  recon- 
sider its  adoption  of 
the  constitution  and 
to  secede  from  the 
Union.  These  views 
he  urged  with  great 
eloquence  and  force 
of  logic.  Dan  iel 
Webster  combated 
them  in  the  Senate  of 
the  United  States  with 
some  of  the  most 
masterly  and  power- 
ful arguments  in  the 
range  of  constitu- 
tional exposition. 

The   first    consti- 
tution formed   by  the  John  C.  Calhoun. 

inqnro-pnl-rnlnnipc; ^va^  Born,  1782;    died,   1850.      Educated  at   Yale; 

mSUrgent  colonies  was  j^^^.^^;  .  ^^^^ber  of  Congress,  1811-17  ;  secre- 

n-\\\(^c\       "   Arfir-lf^c       rS  tary   of   war,  1817-25;    vice-president  of  the 

Caiieu           /\rLlLies       Ol  united  States,  1825-32  (resigned)  ;  U.  S.  sena- 

Pnn  fpH  prn  tinn     anr!  tor  from   South  Carolina,   1832-43;  secretary 

V^unxeuerauun    ailU  of  state,   1844-5;  U.   S.   senator  from  South 

Perpetual  Union."      Carolina,  1845-50. 
The    preamble   to   the    constitution    of   1787   recited  as 
one  of  its  purposes    "to   form  a  more  perfect  union." 
It   is  hard  to  see  how  it  would  accord  with  these  ex- 
press characteristics    of  the    new  frame  of  government 


232  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Constitution  of 
the  United 
States,  Art  VI., 
Sec.  2. 


Constitution, 
Art.  III.,  Sec.  2. 


Tariff  of  1832. 


Nullification 
convention  in 
South  Carolina. 


that  the  perpetuity  of  the  Union  should  be  at  the 
option  of  each  of  its  constituent  members.  Further,  the 
constitution  specifically  provides  that  "this  constitution, 
and  the  laws  of  the  United  States  which  shall  be  made 
in  pursuance  thereof  ....  shall  be  the  supreme 
law  of  the  land  ;  and  the  judges  in  every  state  shall  be 
bound  thereby,  anything  in  the  constitution  or  laws  of 
any  state  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding."  And  an- 
other provision  makes  the  federal  judiciary  the  final 
arbiter  of  the  conflict  of  laws. 

In  other  words,  Calhoun's  theory  made  the  United 
States  a  loose  and  temporary  confederation ;  Webster 
regarded  the  constitution  as  creating  a  permanent  nation. 

After  the  Tariff  Act  of  1828,  nullification  began  to  be 
urged  in  the  South  and  it  won  many  adherents.  In 
1832  Congress,  in  response  to  the  strong  southern  feel- 
ing, passed  a  new  tariff  bill.  But  after  all  this  appeared 
to  give  no  great  relief  Most  of  the  merely  revenue 
taxes  were  taken  off.  Some  protective  duties  were  re- 
duced. But  the  principle  of  protection  was  fully 
retained. 

When  this  was  plainly  seen,  the  nullification  tide  in 
South  Carolina  rose  higher  and  swept  away  the  con- 
servative sentiment.  The  new  legislature  summoned  a 
state  convention,  which  met  in  November.  This  con- 
vention adopted  an  ordinance  which  declared  the  Tariff 
Acts  of  1828  and  1832  null  and  void  in  South  Carolina 
— prohibiting  appeals  from  the  state  courts  to  the  federal 
courts,  requiring  all  state  officers  to  take  an  oath  to 
support  the  ordinance,  and  threatening  secession  if  the 
United  States  should  attempt  coercion.  February  i,  1833, 
was  fixed  as  the  date  on  which  the  ordinance  should  go 
into  effect. 

Jackson  was  a  southern  man,   and    had  not  always 


Andrezu  Jackson  mid  Nullijicatiori.  233 

shown  respect   for   the  authority  of  the  federal   court. 

But  he  was  a  sincere  patriot,  and  vigorously  opposed  to   *^°esiden/^^^ 

all  theories  of  nullification  and  secession.      Accordingly 

in  December  he  issued  a  ringing  Union  address  to  the 

people  of  South  Carolina,   and  promptly  prepared  to 

use  the  federal  army  and  navy  if  necessary.      Congress 

then  took   up   the  matter,  and  adopted  two  measures. 

One  was  what  the  president  desired — an  act  giving  him 

special  authority  to  use  such  force  as  might  be  needed.    The  Force  Bill. 

The  other  was  Henry  Clay's  Compromise  Tariff   Bill. 

This  provided  for  the  reduction  of  the  tariff  by  a  sliding:   ^^   ^ 

-^  ^  ,  J  ^     The  Compro- 

scale,   a  portion   being   taken  off  each  alternate   year,    mise  Tariff  Bill. 
until    in    1842    the   rate  on  dutiable   goods   should   be 
twenty  per  cent,  with  a  large  free  list.      The  two  bills 
became  law  at  the  same  time. 

Jackson  would  have  preferred  to  settle  the  matter  by 
the  Force  Act  alone.  But  the  Tariff  Bill  of  course  fixation. 
removed  the  cause  for  nullification,  and  the  South 
Carolina  convention  therefore  repealed  the  nullifying 
ordinance.  Without  the  compromise  Jackson  would 
doubtless  have  put  down  nullification  with  a  strong 
hand.  As  it  was,  the  nullifiers  had  won  their  point. 
And  thereafter  the  threat  of  secession  was  a  powerful 
weapon. 


End  of  nuUi- 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE    PANIC    OF    1 837. 

References. — Schouler  ;  Sumner  :  Jackson  ;  Laughlin  : 
Bimetallisin  in  the  Uiiited  States,  Chs.  ii.-iv.  ;  Knox  :  United 
States  Notes. 


A  period  of 
economic  de- 
velopment. 


(iovernment 
and  prosperity, 


As  HAS  been  said,  the  period  between  the  second  war 
with  England  and  the  war  with  Mexico  in  1846  has  as  its 
characteristic  feature  the  economic  development  of  the 
nation.  Migration  and  settlement  in  the  West,  stimu- 
lated by  the  improved  means  of  transportation,  rapidly 
opened  new  lands  to  cultivation,  and  thus  increased  the 
productive  power  of  the  republic.  Manufactures,  stimu- 
lated by  the  Non-Intercourse  Acts  and  the  War  of  1812, 
and  then  by  the  protective  tariffs,  grew  to  great  propor- 
tions. And  commerce,  when  it  had  once  recovered  from 
the  confusion  caused  by  the  foreign  commotions,  ad- 
justed itself  to  the  new  conditions,  and  again  moved  on 
with  accelerating  energy.  Everywhere  enterprise  was 
active,  business  was  expanding,  men  were  getting  ahead 
in  life,  vigor  and  hope  were  in  the  air. 

When  the  main  thought  of  the  people  was  absorbed 
in  this  busy  material  prosperity,  it  was  natural  that  the 
government  should  be  expected  to  aid  the  general  wel- 
fare. It  was  a  democratic  government,  created  by  the 
people,  and  existing  for  the  people.  The  tremendous 
impetus  to  prosperity  caused  by  the  initiation  of  the  con- 
stitution and  by  Hamilton's  plans  of  finance  was  by  no 
means  forgotten.  The  Republicans,  to  be  sure,  had 
thought  that  the  Federalists  did  too  much  governing. 


TJie  Panic  of  iSjy.  235 

But  a  quarter  of  a  century  of  Republican  rule  had  prac- 
tically made  Federalists  of  a  good  share  of  the  Jeffer- 
sonian  party.  The  National  Republicans  frankly  adopted 
a  policy  of  governmental  supervision  of  business  inter- 
ests. And  the  Democrats,  as  the  Jackson  Republicans 
now  began  to  be  commonly  called,  were  far  from  con- 
sistent in  the  contrary  policy. 

One  prominent  form  in  which  the  government  at-  Tariffs, 
tempted  to  aid  private  enterprise  was  the  protective 
tariff.  The  National  Republicans  generally  favored  high 
duties,  while  the  Democrats  were  divided.  It  was  only 
the  determined  opposition  of  the  South  which,  as  has 
been  seen,  led  to  the  partial  revision  of  1832,  and  to  the 
practical  abandonment  of  protection  in  the  sliding  scale 
of  1833. 

An  essential  means   of  carrying  on   business  is  some 
monetary  medium.      And    from    the    beginning  of  our  and  banking. 
national  life  this  has  been  provided  in  three  ways. 

The  first  has  consisted  of  coin.  By  the  mint  law  of 
1792  the  dollar  w^as  made  the  unit,  and  the  principal 
coins  were  of  silver  and  gold,  the  ratio  of  value  between 
the  two  metals  being'  fixed  at  fifteen  to  one.  Thus  at 
the  mint  an  ounce  of  gold  was  equivalent  to  fifteen  ounces 
of  silver.  But  at  that  very  time  (1792)  in  the  market 
an  ounce  of  gold  would  buy  more  than  fifteen  ounces  of 
silver.  And  the  disparity  in  the  value  of  the  two  metals, 
while  fluctuating  considerably,  on  the  whole  increased 
rather  than  diminished.  Of  course  the  result  was  that 
money  brokers  used  such  gold  as  they  could  get  in  buy- 
ing silver  bullion,  or  foreign  silver  coins  which  they 
melted  into  bullion  ;  in  either  case  sending  the  bullion  to 
the  mint  to  be  coined.  And  so  the  gold  currency  slowly 
drifted  away  to  other  countries,  silver  coming  in  to  take 
its  place.     Soon  after  the  War  of  18 12  it  began  to  be 


The  currency 


Coin. 


236  The  Growth  of  the  Afnerican  Nation. 


Excepting,  of 
course,  the 
copper  cents. 


Laughlin,  55. 


Paper  currency. 


Bank  checks 
and  drafts. 


noticed  that  gold  had  entirely  disappeared  from  circula- 
tion, and  until  after  the  new  Coinage  Act  of  1834  silver 
was  really  our  whole  coin  supply. 

But  it  was  not  all  our  own  coinage.  The  American 
dollar  was  somewhat  lighter  than  the  Spanish  pieces 
which  circulated  to  the  south  of  our  border.  However, 
they  were  taken  indifferently  in  the  West  Indies,  and  so 
our  merchants  were  apt  to  send  American  dollars  abroad, 
bringing  the  Spanish  coins  back  in  exchange.  The  gain 
was  in  the  slight  premium  which  the  latter  bore  here. 
The  result  was  that  of  thirty-four  million  dollars  of 
silver  coined  in  the  United  States  up  to  1830  only  four- 
teen million  dollars  remained  in  the  country  at  that 
date,  and  the  rest  of  the  coin  afloat  consisted  of  Spanish, 
Mexican,  and  South  American  money. 

A  second  medium  of  exchange  was  composed  of  bank 
notes.  The  first  Bank  of  the  United  States  furnished  a 
currency  which  was  uniformly  good  throughout  the 
United  States.  At  the  same  time  there  were  banks  of 
issue  chartered  by  the  several  states,  whose  notes  were 
more  or  less  good.  In  181 1  the  charter  of  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States  expired,  and  its  currency  was  replaced 
by  that  of  a  great  number  of  state  banks.  During  the 
War  of  181 2  all  these  banks  suspended  specie  payments. 
Thus  the  only  ' '  money  ' '  was  uncertain  and  depreciated 
paper.  In  1816  the  second  Bank  of  the  United  States 
began  its  career.  It  secured  the  resumption  of  specie 
payments,  and  provided  by  its  notes  a  good  paper 
medium,  everywhere  current  and  redeemable  in  coin. 

A  third  form  of  making  payments  was,  as  now,  bank 
checks  and  drafts.  This,  as  is  well  known,  is  the  form 
in  which  more  than  nine  tenths  of  all  the  business  of 
civilized  countries  is  done  to-day.  The  vast  expansion 
of  modern  business  would  be  impossible  if  actual  money 


The  bank  war. 


The  Panic  of  i8jy.  237 

had  to  pass  with  every  transaction.  Of  course  the  local 
banks  performed  the  usual  function  of  receiving  de- 
posits subject  to  check,  of  making  commercial  loans, 
and  buying  and  selling  exchange,  i.  e. ,  drafts  on  distant 
places.  The  Bank  of  the  United  States  did  all  this  busi- 
ness also,  besides  being,  like  most  of  the  state  institu-  See  pp.  195-6. 
tions,  a  bank  of  issue.  And  it  had  a  great  advantage  in 
its  large  capital,  in  its  twenty-five  branches  (the  parent 
bank  was  at  Philadelphia),  and  in  its  monopoly  of  the 
government  business. 

In  Jackson's  first  inaugural  he  attacked  the  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  and  again  the  following  year.  It 
seems  that  there  were  reasons  for  this  other  than  those 
of  the  science  of  finance.  He  was  led  to  believe  by  his 
inner  circle  of  trusted  followers,  the  so-called  ' '  kitchen 
cabinet,"  that  the  bank  had  opposed  his  election. 
Further,  Biddle,  the  president,  declined  to  allow  poli- 
tics to  enter  into  bank  management,  and  was  per- 
haps a  little  too  independent  in  his  way  of  doing  it. 
All  this  aroused  the  ire  of  the  old  hero,  and  he  was  jackson's 
easily  convinced  that  the  great  fiscal  agency  was  a  giant  aroused, 
monopoly  which  was  dangerous  to  the  government  and 
to  the  interests  of  the  people.  Accordingly  he  deter- 
mined to  crush  it.  But  the  National  Republicans  were 
in  sympathy  with  the  bank,  and  thought  it  "good  poli- 
tics" to  oppose  Jackson.  They  held  a  national  con- 
vention in  Baltimore  in  December,  1831,  and  nominated 
Henry  Clay  for  president.*  And  in  the  ensuing  session 
of  Congress  they  took  up  the  cause  of  the  bank.  Al- 
though the  charter  would  not  expire  until  1836,  a  bill  was 
introduced  for  a  renewal,  and  passed  both  Houses.    Many 


*  In  the  previous  September  a  national  convention  of  Anti-Masons  had  nomi- 
nated a  presidential  ticket,  and  their  example  was  now  followed  by  all  parties. 
Until  1824  presidential  candidates  had  been  nominated  by  a  congressional 
caucus. 


238  The   Growth  of  the  A77ierica7i  NatioTi. 


Veto  of  the 
bank  bill,  1832. 


Jackson  re- 
elected, 1832. 


Removal  of  the 
deposits,  1833. 


The  "pet 
banks." 


Coinage  Act  of 

1834. 


Democrats  favored  it.  It  went  to  the  president  in  July, 
and  he  vetoed  it. 

In  the  presidential  election  then  pending,  this  veto,  as 
well  as  the  new  spoils  system  in  the  civil  service,  was 
made  a  prominent  issue  by  the  opponents  of  Jackson. 
But  his  popularity  was  invincible,  and  he  was  over- 
whelmingly triumphant. 

Jackson  accepted  his  election  as  a  popular  indorsement 
of  his  entire  policy,  the  bank  war  included.  And  now, 
still  influenced  by  his  "kitchen  cabinet,"  he  determined 
to  destroy  the  "monster." 

On  the  pretext  that  the  bank  was  unsafe,  he  ordered 
the  secretary  of  the  treasury  to  remove  from  it  the  de- 
posits of  public  funds,  and  to  place  them  in  state  banks. 
Duane,  the  secretary,  believed  this  to  be  dangerous 
and  unjust,  and  he  refused  to  do  it.  Jackson  removed 
him  and  appointed  Taney  in  his  place,  and  he  gave  the 
required  order.  No  more  deposits  were  made  in  the 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  and  the  current  checks  soon 
drew  out  all  the  national  funds  then  in  its  keeping. 

The  treasury  balance  was  then  deposited  in  a  number 
of  state  banks,  carefully  selected  for  party  loyalty.  The 
withdrawal  of  the  deposits,  of  course,  was  a  serious 
blow  to  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  It  was  obliged 
to  call  in  loans,  and  its  exchanges  were  demoralized. 

The  next  year  the  administration  party  took  a  new 
step  in  reference  to  money.  It  was  their  belief  that  gold 
had  been  driven  away  partly  by  the  abundance  of  paper, 
and  partly  by  undervaluation.  The  president  tried,  but 
without  success,  to  persuade  the  banks  to  confine  their 
issues  to  large  bills — five  or  ten  dollars.  And  the  Coin- 
age Act  of  1834  made  the  ratio  of  gold  to  silver  about 
one  to  sixteen  instead  of  one  to  fifteen.  At  that  time  in 
the  market  an  ounce  of  gold  was  worth  about  15.7  ounces 


The  Panic  of  i8jy.  239 


of  silver.  So  of  course  the  new  ratio  overvalued  gold  and 
was  an  inducement  to  the  importation  of  that  metal  and 
the  exportation  of  silver — just  reversing  the  process 
which  had  been  going  on  under  the  old  law. 

The  national  debt  had  been  steadily  reduced  after  the 
War  of  1812,  and  in  183s  the  last  dollar  was  paid.     But   Extinction  of 

'  .  .  .  the  national 

from  the  sale  of  public  lands  and  from  import  duties  a  debt,  1835. 
stream  of  revenue  still  flowed  into  the  treasury,  far  be- 
yond the  needs  of  government.  This  had  been  foreseen 
for  some  time,  and  the  question  what  to  do  with  the 
surplus  had  been  eagerly  discussed.  Of  course  one  way 
would  have  been  to  lessen  the  receipts — by  reducing  the 
number  of  dutiable  articles  on  the  tariff  list,  and  by  selling 
government  land  for  a  nominal  price.  But  Congress 
would  agree  to  neither  of  these  suggestions.  The 
money  in  the  treasury,  again,  might  be  used  for  fortifi- 
cations on  the  seaboard,  as  Senator   Benton  urged,  or 

^       .  ,     .  1         /-    1        1  11         Disposal  of  the 

tor  mternal  miprovements  under  federal  control,  as  the  surplus. 
National  Republicans  preferred.  But  it  was  decided 
that  the  fairest  disposition  would  be  a  distribution  pro 
rata  among  the  states.  This  would  obviate  the  ob- 
jection of  unconstitutionality  brought  against  national 
works,  and  would  enable  every  section  of  the  country 
to  reap  a  just  share  of  the  common  property. 

But  many  strict  constructionists  hesitated  to  vote  for 
a  gift  to  the  states,  finding  no  warrant  in  the  constitu- 
tion. Accordingly  it  was  enacted  that  the  surplus  which 
should  be  on  hand  after  January  i,  1837,  beyond  a  fixed 
reserve,  should  be  deposited  with  the  states.  The  th?states[*i837. 
payments  should  be  in  quarterly  installments.  The  total 
amount  disposabk  was  found  to  be  over  $37,000,000. 
Three  installments  were  actually  paid  over,  but  before  Y^noy.,  Ch.  xii. 
the  fourth  could  be  made  ready  the  great  financial  panic 
had  left  the  treasury  bankrupt. 


240 


The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Van  Buren. 


See  p.  227. 


Taney. 


Van  Buren 
elected  presi- 
dent, 1836. 


Jackson's  first  secretary  of  state  was  Martin  Van 
Buren,  of  New  York.  He  was  a  very  shrewd  politician, 
who  succeeded  ahvays  in  keeping  in  the  president's  con- 
fidence. His  long  experience  in  the  "Albany  regency," 
the  group  of  Democratic  leaders  who  controlled  the 
politics  of  the  Empire  State,  had  fitted  him  for  the  dex- 
terous management  of  political  affairs.  Being  a  widower, 
he  was  not  complicated  in  the  tangle  of  Jackson's  cab- 
inet, and  was  able  later  to  retire  with  dignity  to  the 
English  mission.  But  after  he  had  sailed,  the  Senate, 
in  which  the  enemies  of  Jackson  had  a  majority,  rejected 
his  nomination,  and  Van  Buren  thus  was  obliged  to 
undergo  the  humiliation  of  returning.  But  this  affront 
to  Jackson  proved  a  boomerang  to  the  Senate.  The 
Democratic  convention  of  1832,  which  renominated  the 
old  hero,  joined  with  him  on  the  ticket  Van  Buren. 
And  thus  he  whom  the  Senate  had  scornfully  rejected 
came  back  to  preside  over  that  body. 

Another  rejected  nomination  was  that  of  Taney. 
Soon  after  he  had  proved  so  serviceable  to  Jackson  in 
the  matter  of  removing  the  deposits,  his  name  was  sent 
in  to  the  Senate  for  a  place  on  the  bench  of  the  Supreme 
Court.  The  Senate  gave  an  adverse  vote.  But  in  1835 
the  great  chief  justice,  John  Marshall,  died.  And  now 
the  Senate,  being  partially  reconstructed,  confirmed  the 
nomination  of  Taney  for  the  succession. 

To  cap  the  climax  of  Jackson's  triumphs,  in  1836  he 
secured  the  nomination  of  Van  Buren  to  the  presidency. 
The  opposition,  who  had  now  come  to  call  themselves 
W^higs,  in  token  of  their  hostility  to  what  they  called 
the  dictatorial  ways  of  the  president,  also  tried  an  ' '  old 
hero"  in  the  person  of  William  Henry  Harrison,  a  vet- 
eran of  the  War  of  181 2.      But  Van  Buren  was  elected. 

And  in  the  closing  months  of  Old   Hickory's   admin- 


The  Panic  of  iSjy.  241 


istration  he  was  gratified  by  a  still  dearer  personal  victory. 

In  1834  the  Senate  had  passed  a  vote  of  censure  on  the 

president  for  removing  the  deposits.      In  January,  1837,    Thecensureof 

this  vote  was  ordered  to  be  expunged  from  the  records,    p^i^iged/''^  ^^' 

Jackson  was  so  delighted  with  this  action  that  he  gave  a 

dinner  to  those  who  voted  for  expunging. 

Jackson  retired  to  his  home  in  Tennessee.  As  has 
been  said,  "He  had  won  all  his  batdes,  rewarded  all  his  jl'cksor"^°^ 
friends,  punished  all  his  enemies."  No  American  pres- 
ident has  ever  had  more  entire  success  in  attaining  his 
ends.  No  American  president  has  more  completely 
won  the  devotion  and  confidence  of  the  masses.  The 
secret  of  Jackson's  strength  was  simply  that  he  saw  with 
the  eyes  and  was  animated  with  the  feelings  of  the  plain, 
common  people.  He  was  one  of  them.  They  knew  it. 
They  knew,  too,  his  utter  honesty  and  fearlessness. 
And  whether  he  was  fighting  the  bank  monopoly,  or 
sending  troops  to  crush  nullification,  or  maintaining  the 
honor  of  the  flag  abroad,  he  was  always  the  trusted  hero 
of  the  democracy. 

Van  Buren  was  scarcely  in  office  when  business  from  -phe  panic. 
one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other  collapsed  with  a 
crash.  Commercial  houses  suspended,  factories  closed 
their  doors,  banks  failed,  wages  disappeared.  Among 
others,  the  "pet  banks"  went  down,  carrying  the  fed- 
eral treasury  deposits  with  them. 

What  was  the  cause  of  all  this  disaster  ?  The  Whigs 
said  it  was  the  destruction  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  '^^^  ^''"^^^• 
States  and  the  scaling  down  of  the  tariff"  in  1833. 
Whatever  effect  these  measures  might  have  had,  it  is 
clear  that  other  causes  had  been  at  work.  The  decade 
immediately  preceding  had  witnessed  a  great  expansion 
of  business.  New  lands  were  settled  in  the  West,  new 
manufactures  were  starting  up,  new  means  of  transpor- 


242  The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Expansion  of 
business. 


Speculation. 


Multiplication 
of  banks. 


Land  specu- 
lations. 


tation  were  coming  into  use.  Trade  was  active.  There 
was  great  demand  for  all  forms  of  merchandise,  and  the 
market  was  buoyant.  Cotton  was  six  cents  a  pound  in 
1830,  and  twenty  cents  in  1835.  Imports  and  exports 
were  large.  Everywhere  men  were  making  money. 
And  whoever  had  capital,  whether  his  own  or  borrowed, 
was  sure  of  great  profits. 

As  soon  as  this  was  clear,  a  mania  for  speculation  set 
in.  Money  was  borrowed  and  invested  in  all  sorts  of  en- 
terprises. The  credit  of  the  United  States  was  good,  and 
so  capital  poured  in  from  Europe.  In  the  West  buying 
and  selling  land  became  a  craze.  So  many  towns  were 
projected  on  the  prairie  that  in  Illinois  it  was  said  there 
was  alarm  lest  there  would  not  be  room  left  for  farms. 

To  provide  capital  for  this  eager  speculation  a  multi- 
tude of  banks  sprang  into  existence.  Between  1830 
and  1837  their  number  was  doubled,  their  nominal 
capital  rose  from  $61,000,000  to  $291,000,000,  their 
loans  expanded  from  $200,000,000  to  $525,000,000, 
their  paper  currency  from  $61,000,000  to  $149,000,000. 
The  specie  back  of  all  this  paper  in  1837  was  $38,000,000. 

Jackson's  finance  policy  had  stimulated  this  process. 
Coteries  of  speculators  organized  banks,  under  the  loose 
laws  of  the  states,  each  hoping  to  get  a  share  of  the 
federal  deposits.  Then  when  the  treasury  balance  was 
placed  in  the  pet  banks,  the  instructions  of  the  secretary 
were  that  one  purpose  was  ' '  to  afford  increased  facilities 
to  commerce" — in  other  words,  intimating  that  the  pub- 
lic money  ought  to  be  lent  freely.  And  this  advice  was 
followed  literally. 

The  public  land  was  sold  usually  at  a  dollar  and  a 
quarter  an  acre.  Speculators  would  borrow  paper  cur- 
rency at  a  bank  and  with  it  buy  land.  The  land  officer 
would  then  deposit  the  funds  in  the  bank,  from  which  the 


The  Panic  of  iSjy.  243 

speculator  would  again  borrow  them  for  a  similar  pur- 
pose. And  so  the  "money"  went  on  its  rounds,  land 
changing  hands  frequently  at  a  constantly  inflated  price, 
and  the  speculators  doing  business  on  borrowed  capital. 

In  1836  President  Jackson  became  alarmed  at  the 
paper  in  which  the  government  was  being  paid  for  its  T'^^  specie 
land,  and  caused  the  famous  "specie  circular"  to  be 
issued.  By  this  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  ordered 
land  officers  to  receive  no  money  but  coin.  Thus  the 
speculators  were  at  once  embarrassed,  as  the  supply  of 
specie  was  limited. 

This  embarrassment  was  increased  in  1837  by  the  dis- 
tribution of  the  surplus  among-  the  states.     The  act  of  Distribution  of 

^  the  surplus. 

Congress  provided  that  all  government  drafts  should  be 
paid  in  specie.  So  when  the  drafts  were  issued  for  the 
first  installment  about  nine  millions  in  specie  were  drawn 
from  the  banks,  just  at  the  time  they  most  needed  coin, 
and  were  sent  traveling  among  the  states,  and  the  states 
in  many  cases  squandered  this  fund  in  public  improve- 
ments which  were  never  completed. 

The  banks  could  not  stand  the  pressure.  They  be- 
gan to  call  in  their  loans.  People  then  began  to  fear  for  Collapse, 
the  solvency  of  the  banks,  and  suddenly  everywhere 
there  was  a  demand  for  money  which  could  no  longer  be 
had.  Prices  began  to  fall.  Cotton  dropped  from  twenty 
cents  in  1836  to  twelve  cents  and  eight  cents  in  1837. 
The  English  investors  also  tried  to  withdraw  their  loans, 
and  the  whole  financial  fabric,  which  had  long  been 
tottering,  fell  with  a  crash. 

The  causes  may  be  summed  up  in  the  general  mania 
for  speculation,  the  abundance  of  "  cheap  money"  at 
the  mushroom  banks,  and  the  wild  financiering  at  the 
treasurv  of  the  United  States, 


CHAPTER  XIX. 


Leaders  of  the 
Wnigs. 

Henrv  Clav. 


His  eloquenc- 


THE  WHIG  TRIUMPH. 

References. — Schouler  ;      Schurz  :     Oay    and     JVebsier  ; 
Weed  :  Autobiography ;  Benton  :    Thirty  Years. 

Few  political  leaders  have  had  so  absolute  control  of 
the  hearts  of  men  as  did  Henry  Clay.  Genial,  warm- 
hearted, always  pro- 
foundly courteous  to 
high  and  low,  young 
and  old,  few  could 
resist  the  charm  of 
his  presence.  But 
the  secret  of  his 
greatest  power  lay 
in  his  matchless  ora- 
tory.  A  popular 
audience  was 
wrought  up  to  the 
highest  pitch  of  ex- 
cited feeling  by  his 
glowing  periods. 
Tall  and  command- 
ing in  person,  he 
was  endowed  with  a 
voice  which  was  a 
superb  musical  in- 
strument. And  it 
was  as  much  the 
music  of  his  voice  as 
the  music  of  his  periods  that  charmed  his  auditors.    When 


Henrv  Clav. 

Born,  1777  :  died,iS52.  Admitted  to  the  bar,  1797  ; 
U.  S.  senator  from  Kentucky,  1S06:  speaker  of 
lower  house  of  Kentucky  legislature,  1807:  U.  S. 
senator  from  Kentucky,  1S09-11  ;  member  of 
Congress  and  speaker,  181 1-25;  secretary  of 
state,  1S25-9 ;  U.  S.  senator  from  Kentucky, 
1831-42,  and  1849-52:  candidate  for  the  presi- 
dency, 1S24,  1832.  1844. 


The    Whig    Triumph. 


245 


he  addressed  his  farewell  to  the  Senate  in  1843,  the  sen- 
ators were  left  in  no  mood  to  do  business,  but  at  once  ad- 
journed by  unanimous  vote.  ' '  Clay's  leaving  Congress," 
wrote  John  J.  Crittenden,  "  was  something  like  the  soul's 
lea\'ing  the 
body,"  Indeed, 
with  the  excep- 
tion of  his  ab- 
s  e  n  c  e  while 
serving  on  the 
commission  of 
peace  at  Ghent, 
Clay  had  been 
continuously  in 
Congress  since 
1811. 

Another  great 
Whig  chief  was 
Daniel  Web- 
ster. He  never 
won  hearts  like 
Henry  Clay. 
He  never  had  a 
devoted  follow- 
ing in  every  state  of  the  Union.  Clay  was  an  orator 
above  anything  else.  Webster  was  first  of  all  a  great 
constitutional  lawyer.  Clay  could  persuade  a  jury  to 
believe  any  alleged  facts  he  pleased.  Webster  marshaled 
his  view  of  law  in  so  luminous  and  cogent  a  form  as  to 
compel  assent  from  the  bench. 

Both  of  these  great  Whig  leaders  longed  for  the  presi- 
dency. And  it  was  the  bitter  disappointment  of  the  life- 
time of  each  that  this  ambition  was  balked.  Clay  was 
an  active  candidate  more  than  once.      He  could  have 


Daniel  Webster. 
Born,  1782;  died,  1852.  Educated  at  Dartmouth  Col- 
lege ;  lawyer ;  member  of  Congress,  1813-17,  and 
1823-7;  U.  S.  senator  from  Massachusetts,  1827-41; 
secretary  of  state,  1841-3;  U.  S.  senator,  1845-50;  sec- 
retary of  state,  1850-2. 


Clay  in  Con- 
gress. 


Daniel  Webster. 


Presidential 
ambitions. 


246  The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Clay's  ideas. 


"The  American 
System." 


Webster  a 
nationalist. 


The  New  York 
Whigs. 


been  elected  in  1840  and  was  nearly  successful  in  1844. 
Webster  was  always  at  an  immeasurable  distance  from 
the  goal.  He  lost  the  only  chance  he  ever  had  when  he 
refused  the  nomination  for  vice-president  on  the  ticket 
with  Taylor  in  1848. 

The  key  to  Clay's  political  course  was  his  intense 
national  patriotism.  It  was  this  which  led  to  his  urging 
the  war  against  English  insolence  in  181 2.  His  desire 
for  a  protective  tariff  was  primarily  in  the  hope  of  estab- 
lishing American  industrial  independence.  He  had 
smarted  too  long  under  British  tyranny  not  to  long  to 
be  free  from  it  at  any  cost — a  feeling,  indeed,  which  was 
shared  by  Jefferson  and  Madison,  and  most  of  the  Re- 
publican leaders.  Clay's  championship  of  the  Spanish 
American  republics  came  from  his  sympathy  with  their 
American  aspirations  for  freedom  from  European  control, 
as  well  as  from  his  ambition  that  his  own  country  should 
take  the  lead  in  the  western  hemisphere.  Internal  im- 
provements and  a  national  bank  he  favored  because  he  be- 
lieved that  they  would  materially  strengthen  the  republic. 
In  his  efforts  for  the  compromise  of  dangerous  disputes 
in  1 82 1,  in  1833,  and  finally  in  1850,  we  see  again  his 
anxiety  to  preserve  the  union  of  the  states  at  any  cost. 
The  integrity  and  power  and  glory  of  the  nation  were 
the  objects  nearest  his  heart. 

Webster,  too,  was  a  thorough  nationalist.  With  his 
mighty  logic  he  showed  that  the  constitution  meant  a 
nation,  not  a  temporary  partnership.  Webster  in  the 
Senate  and  Marshall  on  the  bench  shared  the  renown  of 
being  the  great  expounders  of  the  federal  organic  law. 

In  New  York  there  had  grown  up  a  strong  Whig  or- 
ganization. After  the  disappearance  of  the  Federalist 
party  the  Republicans  had  divided  into  factions  which 
quarreled  with  the  rancor  which  has  always  character- 


The    Whig    Trmniph. 


247 


ized  the  politics  of  that  state.  In  1826  an  excitement 
over  the  alleged  murder  by  Free  Masons  of  a  treacherous  Jj^^gj^,"^'" 
member  of  their  order  gave  rise  to  a  whirlwind  of  oppo- 
sition against  the  venerable  society.  The  excitement 
went  into  politics.  The  "Albany  regency"  was  a  ring, 
of  politicians  who 
managed  the 
Democratic  party 
in  the  state,  and 
who  in  that  way 
made  many  ene- 
m  i  e  s .  These 
Democratic  mal- 
con tents  com- 
bined with  those 
who  were  strictly 
National  Repub- 
licans and  with 
the  Anti-Masons 
to  oppose  the  re- 
gency. Out  of 
this  opposition  as 
the  Masonic 
question  gradu- 
ally disappeared 
a  new  party  grew 

up,  and  among  its  leaders,  originally  Anti-Masons,  were  seward  and 
Seward  and  Thurlow  Weed,  the  one  eager  for  distinc- 
tion, the  other  for  power. 

Another  group  of  opponents  to  the  Jackson  democracy 
consisted  of  Democrats  who  for  one  reason  or  another   ^^ig. 
were  at  odds  with  the  old  hero.       Calhoun  quarreled 
with  Jackson  and  was  displaced  for  the  vice-presidency 
in   1832,  and  then  for  the  presidency  in    1836,  by  Van 


William  H.  Seward. 
Born,  1801;  died,  1872.      Lawyer;  governor  of  New 
York,  1838-42;  U.  S.  senator  from  New  York,  1849- 
61  ;  secretary  of  state,  1861-9. 


Weed. 


Calhoun  not  a 


248  The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Tyler  a  Demo- 
cratic Whig. 


Van  Buren, 
president. 


Special  session 
of  Congress, 

1837. 


Buren.  Then,  too,  his  nullification  policy  put  him  out- 
side the  pale  of  the  regular  Democratic  party.  In  the 
Senate  he  often  combined  with  Clay  and  Webster, 
though  he  was  never  a  Whig.  South  Carolina  voted 
for  presidential  candidates  of  her  own  from  1832  until 
1840.  John  Tyler  of  Virginia  represented  a  wing  of 
Democrats  who  opposed  Jackson's  financial  course  and 
who  frankly  joined  with  the  National  Republicans. 

To  organize  a  coherent  party  out  of  these  hetero- 
geneous elements  of  opposition  was  no  easy  task.  In 
1832  and  1836  the  attempt  had  proved  futile.  In  the 
latter  year  the  name  Whig  had  generally  displaced  that 
of  National  Republican,  as  less  offensive  to  any  of  the 
elements  of  the  party,  and  as  indicative  of  opposition  to 
the  tyranny  of  the  one-man  power  in  the  White  House. 

Martin  Van  Buren  was  the  first  northern  man  to  be 
made  president  by  the  party  of  Jefferson.  The  Adamses 
had  been,  the  one  a  Federalist,  the  other  a  National  Re- 
publican. Every  other  president  had  been  a  southern  man. 
With  all  Van  Buren' s  success  up  to  this  time,  it  was  his 
fate  to  be  in  a  false  position.  He  is  commonly  rated  as 
a  smooth,  supple,  shrewd  wire-puller.  He  was  really  a 
man  of  no  small  ability  and  courage.  Unfortunately  for 
his  reputation,  he  first  was  long  absorbed  in  the  dom- 
inating personality  of  Jackson,  and  then  met  at  the  out- 
set of  his  independent  career  by  the  great  financial  dis- 
aster, of  which  he  did  little  of  the  sowing  and  much  of 
the  reaping. 

The  general  paralysis  of  business  and  the  threatened 
bankruptcy  of  the  treasury  of  the  United  States  seemed 
to  call  imperatively  for  a  special  session  of  Congress, 
and  accordingly,  after  some  hesitation,  the  president  is- 
sued his  summons  for  September. 

The    president's    message    was    a   disappointment  to 


The    Whig    Triumph. 


249 


message. 


The  ' '  sub- 
treasury." 


many.      He  took  the  ground  that  it  was  not  the  duty  of  President's 
the   government    to    help    people  out  of  their  business 
difficulties.      He  thought  that  a  sound  constitutional  cur- 
rency should  be  provided — by  this   he   meant  specie — 
and  especially  that  the  treasury  should  be  protected.   To 
attain  these  ends  his  chief  recommendation  was  a  com- 
plete   divorce   of   the    government   and    the   banks — in 
other   words,    that  the  federal  treasury  should  collect, 
keep,  and  exchange   its   own  funds,  on  a  specie  basis. 
This    was  the   so- 
called      ' '  sub-treas- 
ury"  plan.      It  was 
a  very  sensible  idea, 
and   is  now    an  es- 
sential part    of  our 
national    system    of 
finance.    TheWhigs 
in    Congress,    how- 
ever,   succeeded    in 
defeating  it  for  the 
special    session. 
Treasury  notes  were 
authorized,  and  the 
pa}''ment    of  the 
fourth  installment  of 
the    surplus    was 
postponed.        This 
last    provision    met 
with    much  oppo- 
sition in  the  states. 
Its  receipt  had  been 

expected,  and  not  a  few  states  had  spent  it  in  advance. 

The  fall  elections  of  1837  were  generally  favorable  to 

the  Whigs.      Rightly  or  wrongly,  the  party  in   power  is 


Martin  Van  Buren. 

Born,  1782;  died,  1862.    Lawyer;  member  of  New 

York  State  legislature;  attorney-general  of  New 

York,  1815-19;  U.  S.  senator  from  New  York, 

1821-8;  governor  of  New  York,  1828-9;  secretary 

829-31  ;    vice-president   of  the  United 


of  state 
States,  1833-37 


president,  1837-41. 


Whig  victories. 


250  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


The  results  of 
the  spoils 
system. 


Von  Hoist,  II. 

355- 


1839  a  bad  year. 


always  held  responsible  for  business  disaster,  and  it  is  a 
comfort  to  vent  one's  dissatisfaction  by  voting  against 
somebody.  In  1838  things  were  a  little  better.  The 
banks  of  New  York  and  New  England  and  a  few  others 
resumed  specie  payments.  Van  Buren's  second  Con- 
gress enacted  the  sub-treasury  plan — the  only  important 
work  of  this  administration. 

By  this  time  the  spoils  system  had  ripened  its  fruit. 
The  collector  of  customs  at  New  York  was  a  defaulter 
for  over  a  million,  and  his  example  was  followed  by  many 
others,  as  far  as  their  opportunities  allowed.  Nearly  all 
the  land  officers  were  defaulters.'  The  supervision  of 
the  service  was  very  lax.  The  secretary  of  the  treasury 
was  quite  indulgent  to  proved  rascals.  His  inspector 
advised  him,  indeed,  "to  leave  those  in  office  who  had 
already  feathered  their  nests,  since  new  officials  would 
begin  the  business  over  again."  The  interference  of 
public  officials  in  elections  was  beginning  to  be  almost  as 
great  a  scandal.  And  the  custom  of  assessing  federal 
officers  for  election  expenses  had  already  begun. 

Business  collapsed  again  in  1839.  The  Bank  of 
the  United  States,  which  had  secured  a  charter  from 
Pennsylvania,  went  to  pieces  finally.  A  general  feeling 
had  grown  up  that  the  administration  either  could  not 
or  would  not  do  anything  for  business  prosperity.  The 
Whigs  carried  New  York  at  last,  electing  Seward  gov- 
ernor by  ten  thousand  majority,  thus  giving  a  hard 
blow  to  the  Albany  regency.  And  in  Massachusetts  the 
Democrats  elected  Marcus  Morton  governor,  by  a  ma- 
jority, however,  of  only  one  vote.  People  were  every- 
where ripe  for  revolt  against  the  long  dominant  party 
of  Jackson  and  Van  Buren.  Rightly  or  wrongly, 
the  universal  distress  was  generally  charged  to  the 
government.     And  it  was  believed  that  the  government. 


The    Whig   Triumph. 


251 


if  it  were  in  the  proper  hands,  could  remedy  matters. 

The  problem  before  the  Whigs  was,  how  to  harmo- 
nize the  loose  elements  of  opposition  into  a  coherent 
national  party. 

Their  national  convention  met  at  Harrisburg  in 
December,  1839. 
Clay  confidently  ex- 
pected the  nomi- 
nation, and  there  is 
little  doubt  that  the 
majority  of  the  del- 
egates favored  him. 
Yet  he  was  not  nom- 
inat  e  d.  Some  of 
the  keenest  leaders, 
among  them  Sew- 
ard and  Weed, 
feared  the  result 
with  Clay  as  a  can- 
didate. While  his 
friends  were  de- 
voted, he  had  also 
many  bitter  ene- 
mies. It  seemed 
better  politics  to 
choose  an  inoffen- 
sive ticket  and  trust 
to  the  momentum 
of  the  general  dis- 
content. In  order  to 
compass  this  result, 
an  ingenious  and  complicated  scheme  was  devised.  The 
convention  was  induced  to  assent  that  there  should  be 
no  vote  in  the  general  body — that  in  the  vote,  taken  by 


William  Henry  Harrison. 
Born,  1773;  died,  1841.  Educated  at  Hampden- 
Sidney  College,  Virginia  ;  entered  United  States 
army,  1791  ;  served  under  Wayne  against  the 
Indians,  1793-4 ;  secretary  of  the  Northwest 
Territory,  1798-9;  delegate  to  Congress,  1799- 
1800;  governor  of  Indiana  Territory,  1801-: 
defeated  Indians  at  Tippecanoe,  181 1;  brigadier- 
general  U.  S.  A.,  1812,  and  major-general,  1813  ; 
recovered  Ohio  and  Michigan  from  the  British, 
and  defeated  British  at  the  Thames,  1813  ;  re- 
signed, 1814;  member  of  Congress,  1816-19; 
mmister  to  Colombia,  1828-9  ;  president  of  the 
United  States,  1841,  March  4  to  April  4,  when 
he  died. 


The  Whig 

problem. 


The  Whig 
convention  of 
1839. 


Clay  opposed. 


252  The  Growth  of  the  Americaji  Nation. 

states,  the  unit  rule  should  prevail — that  the  state  dele- 
gations should  vote  in  secret — and  that  committees  of 
conference  should  compare  notes,  also  in  secret,  until 
there  should  be  a  choice.  In  this  roundabout  way 
it  was  managed  to  giva  the  choice  to  General  William 
Nomination  of     Heurv  HarHson,  the  nominee  of  18^6.     General  Harri- 

Harrison  and  ■'  '  ^ 

'^y'^^-  son  had  been  inconspicuous  in  politics,  and  so  had  few 

enemies.  He  also  had  the  merit  of  a  brilliant  military- 
record,  his  victory  over  the  Indians  at  Tippecanoe  in 
181 1  and  over  the  British  in  Canada  two  years  later 
being  inferior  in  luster  only  to  the  exploits  of  Jackson. 
For  vice-president  the  nomination  went  to  John  Tyler, 
of  Virginia,  a  state  rights  Democrat  who  had  revolted 
from  the  Jackson  rule.  This  again  was  thought  to  be 
"good  politics" — it  would  conciliate  many  dissatisfied 
Democrats  and  would  do  no  harm.  The  convention 
made  no  platform.  A  declaration  of  affirmative  princi- 
ples would  have  shaken  the  discordant  opposition  to 
pieces.  The  policy  was  merely  to  attack  the  adminis- 
tration and  demand  a  change. 

Clay  was  deeply  chagrined  at  the  news.      ' '  If  there 

Schurz,  II.,  180.  were  two  Henry  Clays,"  he  exclaimed,  "one  of  them 
would  make  the  other  president  of  the  United  States." 
He  felt  bitterly  that  his  friends  had  been  willing  to 
make  him  their  standard  bearer  when  victory  was  doubt- 
ful, and  now  grudged  him  the  leadership  when  prospects 
were  brighter. 

The    Democrats    in  the    following    spring   nominated 

The  Democrats     ,  t  -r.  ^      r  i      i      •  r  •    i 

nominate  Van  Van  Burcu,  ou  a  platiorni  declanng  lor  state  rights, 
the  divorce  of  the  government  from  the  banks,  and  no 
national  bank. 

Then  followed  the  picturesque    and    tumultuous   log 

^aPn^of*i8"o"  Cabin  and  hard  cider  campaign  of  1840.  The  Whig 
candidate  was  extolled  as  a  plain  farmer,  living  in  a  log 


The    Whig   Triu77iph. 


253 


cabin  and  drinking  cider  as  his  beverage,  rather  than 
having  a  palace  for  a  home,  with  gold  spoons  and 
gilded  plate  and  rare  wines,  like  Van  Buren.  The 
enthusiasm  was  tremendous  and  contagious.  The  pro- 
cessions were  measured  by  the  mile  and  the  outdoor 
meetings  by  the  acre.  Log  cabins  sprang  up  every- 
where— huge  ones  as  places  of  meeting,  small  ones 
hauled  in  wagons.  Transparencies  and  caricatures 
abounded.  The  rollicking  campaign  songs,  like  ' '  Tip- 
pecanoe and  Tyler  Too,"  fired  the  vast  audiences  with 


A  national 
frolic. 


fun  and  fervor.  As  illustrating  the  relative  weight  given 
to  noise  and  argument,  it  might  be  stated  that  one  news- 
paper devoted  six  columns  to  describing  a  procession  and 
two  columns  to  the  speeches.  The  whole  country  went 
wild.  Advertisements  abounded  like  this  :  ' '  The  subscri- 
ber will  pay  $6.00  a  barrel  for  flour  if  Harrison  is  elected, 
and  $3.00  if  Van  Buren  is."      And  people  believed  it. 


Benton,  II.,  205. 


254 


The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


The  Whig 
victory. 


Death  of  the 
president, 
April  6,  1841. 


Tyler's  vetoes. 


The  Democrats  made  what  head  they  could  against  this 
flood  of  excitement.  They  were  puzzled,  half  amused,  half 
frightened.  They  tried  argument — it  was  wasted.  They 
tried  ridicule — it  was  laughed  down.  They  tried  imitation 
— it  was  too  late.  As  Schouler  says,  they  were  outsung, 
outshouted,  outlaughed,  and  finally  outvoted.  The  great 
national  frolic  of  the  campaign  was  followed  by  a  tidal 
wave  at  the  election.  ' '  Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too ' '  swept 
every  state  but  seven,  and  were  triumphantly  elected. 

Great  was  the  joy  of  the  Whigs.  At  the  inaugura- 
tion they  poured  to  Washington  in  crowds,  quite  as  did 
the  democracy  in  1829.  The  Whig  horror  at  the  spoils 
system  seemed  to  be  forgotten,  and  the  ' '  clean  sweep ' ' 
of  Democratic  office-holders  began  merrily.  But  a  sud- 
den blight  fell  on  the  rejoicing  and  on  the  busy  schemes 
for  preferment.  After  only  a  month  in  the  White  House, 
President  Harrison  died,  and  John  Tyler,  an  old-line 
state  rights  Democrat  and  a  nullifier,  became  the  Whig 
president  of  the  United  States. 

Congress  had  been  called  in  special  session  for  May 
31,  on  account  of  disordered  finances.  There  was  a 
Whig  majority  in  both  branches,  and  Henry  Clay  in  the 
Senate  sketched  out  a  distinctively  Whig  line  of  meas- 
ures to  be  passed. 

The  Sub-Treasury  Act  of  the  late  administration  was 
repealed  promptly,  and  temporary  provision  for  the 
treasury  was  made.  Then  came  difficulty.  Clay  drew 
a  plan  for  a  new  Bank  of  the  United  States,  in  the  main 
following  suggestions  received  from  the  secretary  of  the 
treasury,  and  the  bill  was  passed.  But  the  president  was 
utterly  opposed  to  a  bank  on  the  old  model,  and 
especially  he  held  that  no  branches  should  be  established 
in  any  state  without  the  assent  of  the  state  in  question. 
On  this  ground  he  vetoed  the  bill.     A  second  bill  was 


The    Whig    Triumph. 


255 


then  drafted,  in  strict  accordance  with  suggestions  made 
by  members  of  the  cabinet  deputed  by  the  president  for 
that  purpose.  And  yet  this  bill  shared  the  fate  of  the 
first.  The  Whigs  lost  all  patience.  The  cabinet,  with 
the  exception  of  Daniel  Webster,  secretary  of  state,  who 
was  conducting  a  difficult  negotiation  with  England,  re- 
signed at  once,  and 
Congress  promptly 
adjourned. 

There  is  little  doubt 
that  the  president  was 
warped  in  his  judg- 
ment by  a  little  coterie 
of  personal  friends. 
Through  their  influ- 
ence he  was  led  to 
believe  that  he  was  a 
second  Jackson,  and 
that  the  people  would 
surely  rise  in  their 
might  to  his  support, 
and  he  carefully  tried 
to  give  aid  to  the  ris- 
ing by  filling  the  fed- 
eral offices  with  his 
own  followers.  He 
suggested  the  query 
whether  he  could  not  be  reelected  twice.  The  term  he 
was  serving  was  Harrison's,  and  he  ought  to  have  two 
of  his  own — thus  making  nearly  twelve  years.  But  he 
learned  at  last  that  the  Tyler  party  was  completed  when 
the  offices  gave  out.  The  Whigs  cordially  hated  him, 
the  Democrats  praised  him — and  carefully  refrained  from 
pledging  him  future  support. 


Disruption  of 
the  cabinet. 


John  Tyler, 
Born,  1790;  died,  1862.  Educated  at  William 
and  Mary  College ;  lawyer  ;  member  of  Con- 
gress, 1816-21  ;  governor  of  Virginia,  1825-6  ; 
U.  S.  senator  from  Virginia,  1826-36;  vice-presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  March  4,  and  presi- 
dent, April  4,  1S41. 


Tyler's 
ambitions. 


Support 
lacking. 


256  The  Growth  of  the  America7i  Nation. 


The  Whigs 
responsible. 


The  Whig 

tariflf,  1842. 


Protection 
again. 


As  to  his  vetoes,  Tyler  can  hardly  be  acquitted  of  some 
shuffling.  Still,  the  plain  truth  is  that  the  Whigs  had 
made  him  vice-president  with  full  knowledge  of  his  po- 
litical record,  and  he,  on  the  whole,  was  true  to  that 
record. 

No  administration  has  had  so  little  praise  from  political 
writers  as  that  of  Mr.  Tyler.  Whig  authors  have  at- 
tacked it.  Democrats  have  ignored  it,  and  yet  it  must  be 
admitted  that  as  a  whole  it  will  compare  favorably  with 
almost  any. 

One  Whig  measure  of  some  importance  became  law 
in  1842.  Under  the  sliding  scale  tariff  of  1833  the  treas- 
ury threatened  to  become  bankrupt.  By  that  act  the 
duties  were  to  be  lessened  each  alternate  year  until  June 
30,  1842,  by  which  time  the  rate  of  twenty  per  cent  was 
to  be  reached.  The  ' '  slide ' '  was  arranged  in  a  peculiar 
way.  One  tenth  of  the  excess  above  twenty  per  cent 
was  dropped  every  other  year.  Thus  in  1841  four  tenths 
of  that  excess  had  disappeared.  Of  the  remaining  six 
tenths,  three  were  to  go  January  i,  and  the  other  three 
June  30,  1842.  And  the  result  was  to  cut  off  revenue  so 
largely  as  to  threaten  an  empty  treasury.  Accordingly 
the  Whig  Congress  passed  an  act  which  made  revenue 
the  main  object,  but  which  was  incidentally  protective. 
The  duties  were  set  to  a  scale  between  twenty-five  and 
forty  per  cent.  Thus  the  compromise  of  1833  was  re- 
pealed, and  again  protection  appeared  in  a  tariff  bill,  as 
in  1824  and  1828. 

Meanwhile  the  general  condition  of  the  country  was 
gradually  improving.  The  Whigs  determined  that  in 
1844  there  should  be  no  mistake,  but  that  Henry  Clay 
should  be  elected  to  the  presidency,  and  on  a  sound 
Whig  platform.  The  party  was  drawn  together.  In 
1843  Webster  resigned  from  the  cabinet,  and  his  friends 


The    Whig    Trhunph.  257 

were  in  line.  The  convention  at  Baltimore  in  May,  1844, 
nominated  Clay,  unanimously  and  amid  tremendous  en-  J^JJ'  f^J  P^'^si- 
thusiasm.  "The  Whigs,"  said  Webster,  in  his  speech 
to  the  great  mass  meeting  which  followed  the  convention, 
"are  to  do  over  again  the  work  of  1840,  and  to  do  it 
now,  God  willing,  so  that  it  will  hold. ' ' 

But  the  Whigs  were  counting  without  their  host.  A 
new  question  then  suddenly  loomed  above  the  national 
horizon — a  question  destined  to  cost  Van  Buren  his  nomi- 
nation, and  Clay  his  election — a  question  before  which 
the  economic  issues  which  now  for  thirty  years  had  been 
paramount  in  the  public  consciousness,  instantly 
dropped  into  insignificance.  It  was  the  question  of  the  a  new  question 
annexation  of  Texas.  And  this  meant  the  slavery  ques- 
tion, which  for  twenty  years  to  come  was  to  displace  all 
others,  and  was  only  at  last  to  be  solved  by  a  long  and 
bloody  civil  war. 

Thus  1844  niarks  the  close  of  one  epoch  of  the  growth   a  new  epoch. 
of  the  nation  and  the  beginning  of  a  very  different  one. 


CHAPTER  XX. 


Material  con- 
ditions. 


AMERICAN    SOCIAL    LIFE. 

References. — Schouler  ;  Andrews  ;  Dorchester:  Christian- 
ity in  the  United  States. 

The  absorbing  questions  which  fill  the  public  mind 
have  varied  from  period  to  period.  Still,  thus  far  they 
had  nearly  all  alike  related  to  material  interests.  Com- 
merce, manufactures,  agriculture,  were  at  the  bottom  of 
our  dissensions  with  France  and  England,  of  our  succes- 
sive tariffs,  of  the  war  which  raged  about  the  bank. 
Deeper  considerations  than  those  which  immediately 
touched  the  pocket,  to  be  sure,  urged  on  the  Young 
Republicans  to  defend  the  national  honor  in  1812,  and 
inspired  Jackson  to  defend  the  existence  of  the  Union  in 
1832-33.  Still,  the  '' main  chance"  was  the  animating 
force  in  the  new  republic.  Was  this  typical  of  American 
society  at  all  points  ? 

In  truth,  the  social  organism  had  many  forms  of  life 
besides  those  which  found  expression  in  state  or  national 
politics.     And  this  life  was  deep  and  strong. 

In  a  new  country  with  virgin  resources  material  de- 
velopment was  naturally  uppermost.  Here  the  fixed 
conditions  which  hemmed  in  European  social  classes  did 
not  exist.  Every  one  had  a  chance  to  better  himself. 
The  poorest  laborer  whose  industrious  hands  were  guided 
by  an  acute  brain  might  hope  for  competence  and  com- 
fort. And  at  the  same  time  there  were  not  found  those 
artificial  bladders  of  entail  and  primogeniture  which 
in  Europe  keep  afloat  so  many  who  otherwise  would  sink 

258 


American  Social  Life.  259 


inertly  to  the  bottom.  To  be  sure,  in  the  older  regions 
there  was  somewhat  of  fixity.  Old  families  in  Massa-  "oid  families, 
chusetts  retained  for  generations  a  reasonably  comforta- 
ble estate.  And  in  Virginia  the  broad  acres  descended 
from  father  to  son  as  in  old  England.  In  that  state  the 
systems  of  entail  and  primogeniture  were  overthrown  in 
1776,  so  that  it  was  only  by  will  that  the  great  planta- 
tions could  be  kept  together.  But  in  all  the  new  states 
there  was  substantial  equality  of  condition.  There  were 
few  great  fortunes.  There  was  little  abject  poverty. 
Every  one  felt  that  his  best  friends  were  his  ten  fingers — 
and  there  was  always  enough  for  them  to  do. 

That  aggregation  of  capital  so  familiar  now  in  the  form 

^^.     ^  ....  .  Corporations. 

of  corporations  was  just  begmnmg  to  appear  m  the  early 
decades  of  this  century.  Hamilton  in  the  Bank  of  the 
United  States  pointed  the  way  to  the  most  conspicuous  of 
early  institutions  of  the  kind,  and  banking  was  thus  one 
of  the  first  forms  of  corporate  wealth.  As  business  ex- 
panded after  the  second  English  war  the  inconveniences 
of  partnerships,  especially  in  the  way  of  unlimited  liability, 
led  to  the  formation  of  corporations  for  other  purposes. 
Cotton  and  woolen  mills,  railroads  and  turnpikes,  as 
well  as  banks,  were  incorporated.  And  thus  gradually 
the  way  was  paved  for  the  giant  combinations  which  to- 
day overshadow  the  whole  field  of  business  enterprise. 

Society  became  thoroughly  democratic  after  John 
Adams  left  the  White  House.  Aristocracy  was  found 
only  in  spots.  The  dominant  political  and  social  ideas 
were  those  of  Jefferson  and  Jackson.  The  right  of  the 
majority  to  rule  became  an  axiom  everywhere.  And 
the  minority  to-day  submitted  quietly  in  the  hope  that  Democracy, 
to-morrow  they  would  be  the  majority.  This  is  a  lesson 
which  our  Latin  American  neighbors  have  found  it  hard 
to  learn,  and  so  in  their  lands  the  resort  to  physical  force 


26o  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Schouler,  II. 


has  been  all  too  frequent.  But  throughout  the  states 
elections  have  in  the  main  been  a  sufficient  safety-valve 
for  social  ebullition.  Attempts  to  thwart  the  will  of  the 
majority  have  nearly  always  reacted  on  the  originators. 
In  1792  John  Jay  was  doubtless  elected  governor  of 
New  York,  but  was  counted  out.  At  the  next  election, 
in  1795,  he  was  chosen  by  a  round  majority,  and  was 
kept  in  office  for  six  years. 

Democracy  in  politics  was  but  the  reflex  of  the  demo- 
cratic manners  of  the  community  at  large.  ' '  The 
English  traveler  began  to  observe,  and  commonly  with 
more  surliness  than  good  humor,  that  his  coach-driver 
was  talkative  and  drank  with  the  passengers,  while  the 
tavern  keeper,  instead  of  cringing  with  obsequiousness, 

226.  '  '  would  accost  judges  and  generals,  familiarly  addressed 
perhaps,  by  some  sounding  title  in  return.  If  one's 
horse  slipped  in  the  road,  a  half-curious  crowd  gathered 
good  naturedly  about  to  loose  the  breeching  and  help 
the  creature  up  ;  but  when  the  rider  tipped  some  by- 
stander with  a  shining,  and  asked  him  to  hold  his  beast 
while  he  went  into  a  neighboring  house,  the  money  was 
likely  to  be  flung  in  his  face.  Perquisites  could  not 
purchase  for  the  guest  at  an  inn  the  privilege  of  venting 
his  ill  humor  upon  the  waiters." 

Nothing  more  clearly  marked  the  advance  of  demo- 

Suffrage.  cratic   idcas   than   the   extension  of  suffrage.      By   the 

constitution  of  New  York,  adopted  in  1777,  a  consider- 
able   property  qualification   was  required  of  all  voters. 

Seepp.  215, 217.  jj^  jg2j  ^i^-g  provision  was  materially  changed,  the 
suffiage  being  opened  to  all  male  taxpayers  of  full  age. 
And  in  1826  the  tax  limitation  was  eliminated,  thus 
introducing  what  we  call  universal  manhood  suffrage. 
And  this  extension  of  the  franchise  of  course  related  to 
federal  elections  as  well  as  to  those  of  the  state,  as  by 


American  Social  Life. 


261 


the  constitution  of  the  nation  the  states  are  left  to  regu- 
late the  privilege  of  suffrage  at  their  own  choice.  And 
by  the  middle  of  the  century  universal  suffrage  was  the 
rule,  and  limitations  other  than  sex,  age,  and  residence 
were  quite  the  exception. 

The  period  of  the  Revolutionary  War  witnessed  a 
great  change  in  the  religious  condition  of  America.  At 
that  time  the  Congregational  Church  was  established 
by  law  in  New  England,  and  the  Episcopal  Church  (?*.  ^. , 
the  Church  of  England)  in  Virginia.  Each  was  sup- 
ported by  public  taxes.  In  the  other  colonies  there  was 
general  religious 
freedom,  although 
some  form  of  Prot- 
estantism was  ex- 
pressly or  tacitly 
favored.  But  one 
of  the  first  fruits  of 
the  war  was  an  act 
of  toleration  in  Vir- 
ginia whereby  dis- 
senters were  per- 
mitted to  worship  in 
their  own  way,  and 
also  were  exempted 
from  paying  taxes 
for  supporting  a 
church  which  they 
did  not  attend. 
This  act  was  only 
temporary,  and  it  was  not  until  1786  that  it  was  made 
permanent  in  the  great  act  for  religious  freedom  which 
was  drafted  by  Jefferson.  And  in  1801  the  landed 
property  of  the  former  established  church  was  ordered 


St.  Paul's  Chapel,  New  York. 

Erected  by  Trinity  Parish,  1766.  Washington 
immediately  after  his  inauguration,  in  1789, 
proceeded  to  St.  Paul's  for  religious  service, 
and  here  he  frequently  received  the  com- 
munion. On  top  of  the  pulpit  is  found  the  only 
mark  of  royalty  left  by  the  patriots  in  the  city 
after  the  Revolutionary  War — the  Prince  of 
Wales'  crest,  three  feathers. 


Religion. 


1776. 


Virginia  act 
for  religious 
freedom,  1786. 


262  The   Growth  of  the  Americayi  Natioyi. 


Cooke,  395. 


The  Protestant 

Episcopal 

Church. 


Congregation- 
alism. 


sold  by  the  overseers  of  the  poor.  So  bitter  was  the 
feeUng  of  the  other  rehgious  sects  against  the  Episco- 
pahans  that  even  the  churches  and  their  contents  were 
secularized.  "The  parishes  were  obliterated  and  the 
clergy  scattered  ....  and  when  Bishop  Meade 
applied  to  Chief  Justice  Marshall  for  a  subscription  he 
gave  it,  but  said  that  it  was  useless  to  attempt  to  revive 
so  dead  a  thing  as  the  Episcopal  Church. ' ' 

The  Episcopal  clergy  in  general  were  loyalists,  and 
many  of  them  left  the  country  with  the  British  armies. 
After  the  war,  however,  the  adherents  of  the  old  faith 
set  to  work  to  reorganize  their  shattered  church.  There 
had  never  been  any  bishops  in  America,  all  of  the 
colonies  being  attached  to  the  see  of  London.  And 
a  British  statute  made  it  necessary  for  any  one  conse- 
crated by  English  bishops  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  crown.  Accordingly  the  choice  of  the  Connecti- 
cut clergy,  Rev.  Dr.  Seabury,  was  obliged  to  resort  to 
the  n©n-juring  bishops  of  Scotland,  at  whose  hands  he 
was  consecrated  in  1784.  In  1787,  the  statute  mean- 
while being  modified,  two  other  bishops  were  conse- 
crated in  London,  and  thus  the  due  succession  was 
secured  for  America.  And  in  1789  a  general  convention 
of  the  church  in  the  United  States  comprised  the  clergy 
from  all  sections,  and  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
in  this  country  was  definitely  formed.  Its  progress  for 
the  next  half  century  was  steady  and  vigorous. 

New  England  was  the  home  of  Congregationalism. 
In  Connecticut  its  churches  were  supported  by  general 
taxation,  as  was  the  case  with  the  Episcopalians  in  Vir- 
ginia. But  it  was  not  until  1791  that  an  act  of  toleration 
was  passed,  and  religious  freedom  was  only  finally 
secured  by  the  new  constitution  of  1818.  Connecticut 
Federalism    was    rock-ribbed,    the    sturdy    little   state 


American  Social  Life.  263 


choosing  Federalist  presidential  electors  as  long  as  there 
was  a  Federalist  party.  And  the  Republicans  only  suc- 
ceeded in  the  elections  by  making  common  cause  with 
all  forms  of  religious  dissent  to  substitute  a  liberal  con- 
stitution for  the  old  royal  charter  under  which  the  state 
was  governed  until  18 18. 

The  stern  Calvinism  which  was  at  the  core  of  the 
Puritan  theology  had  begun  to  thaw  in  the  eighteenth  Unitarianism 
century.  By  its  close  many  of  the  Massachusetts  clergy 
and  laity  were  Unitarians  in  doctrine,  although  there 
was  no  schism  in  the  church.  This  may  be  said  to 
have  begun  in  181 5,  in  a  controversy  which  raged  for 
years.  In  1825  the  American  Unitarian  Association 
was  formed,  and  thereafter  there  was  a  distinct  line  of 
cleavage  between  the  new  movement  and  the  old  ortho- 
doxy. Many  of  the  Congregational  churches  went  over 
bodily  to  Unitarianism,  carrying  with  them  their  build- 
ings and  other  property.  Harvard  College,  with  all  its 
great  endowment,  was  also  transferred.  In  fact,  the 
overwhelming  majority  of  the  people  of  the  state,  with 
nearly  all  of  the  best  culture  and  intellect,  had  abandoned 
orthodoxy. 

Presbyterians,  Baptists,  and  Methodists  became  firmly 
established  in  the  states  west  and  south  of  New  England. 
The  Presbyterians  were  strong  in  New  York  and  New 
Jersey.  The  Baptists,  besides  their  original  home  in 
Rhode  Island,  spread  through  Virginia  and  the  South. 
And  the  Methodists  were  found  everywhere.  The 
Roman  Catholics  had  from  the  settlement  of  the  colony 
been  influential  in  Maryland,  and  their  priests  were  the 
first  teachers  of  religion  in  Louisiana  and  the  Northwest 
Territory.  With  the  influx  of  immigrants  from  Europe 
the  old  church  greatly  extended  its  numbers  and  power. 

The  years  immediately  following  the   Revolution  wit- 


other  deiiomi 
nations. 


264 


The  Growth  of  the  Ajuerican  Nation. 


nessed  a  decline  in  religion.     The  various  forms  of  in- 
infideiity.  fidelity  then  so  popular  in   France  were  disseminated 

among  our  soldiers  and  statesmen  so  that  few  remained 
free.  And  the  growth  of  French  democratic  ideas  in 
the  state  was  accompanied  by  an  equal  diffusion  of  the 
French  irreligion.  Indeed,  the  animosity  which  stanch 
Connecticut  Federalists  felt  for  Jefferson  and  his  party 
was  quite  as  much  religious  as  political.  They  believed 
that  he  was  an  atheist.  And  to  the  prevalence  of  lax 
ideas  in  religion  as  well  as  in  the  state  they  attributed 
the  undoubted  coarseness  and  looseness  of  morals  which 
characterized  the  closing  years  of  the  eighteenth 
century. 

From  about  17QQ  to   iSc^  a  pfreat  wave  of  religfious 

Thegreat  .      ,  1^^  t      ,      j    •  •    •       • 

revival.  revival   swcpt  over  the  country.     It  had  its  origm  m 

Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  where  the  rude  vigor  of 
frontier  life  was  turned  with  passionate  earnestness  to 
religious  feeling.  Great  open-air  meetings  were  held, 
the  beginning  of  camp  meetings,  and  thousands  of 
people  were  inspired  with  the  new  enthusiasm.  While 
many  of  its  manifestations  were  strange  enough,  yet 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  revival  of  religion  was  accom- 
panied by  a  very  real  reformation  of  life.  Drunkenness, 
brawling,  profanity,  disappeared  in  whole  sections.  And 
the  movement  spread  to  the  East  until  its  power  was 
felt  over  the  entire  republic. 

From  this  fresh  life  of  religion  and  conscience  came 

m?ssT(5is.  a  series  of  new  activities,  reformatory  and  humanitarian. 

Foreign  missions  in  the  United  States  as  an  organized 
force  on  a  large  scale  date  from  1808,  when  a  cluster  of 
earnest  students  in  Williams  College  united  for  the  pur- 
pose of  devoting  themselves  to  carrying  Christianity  to  the 
heathen.  Two  years  later,  as  a  result  of  the  efforts  of 
this  little  band  of  young  men,  the  American  Board  of 


American  Social  Life. 


Commissioners  of  Foreign  Missions  was  formed.  Other 
societies  followed,  and  since  then  hundreds  of  mission- 
aries and  millions  of  dollars  have  been  devoted  to  the 
work  of  evangelizing  with  Christian  civilization  the  na- 
tives of  Asia,  Africa,  and  the  islands  of  the  Pacific. 

Temperance  reform  began  in  the  early  years  of  the 
century.  At  that  time  liquor  was  in  common  use  Temperance, 
among  all  classes  of  society — not  light  wines,  as  in  the 
south  of  Europe,  or  beer,  as  in  Germany,  but  rum  and 
whisky.  And  drunkenness  was  alarmingly  prevalent. 
In  1811  the  General  Assembly  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  attacked  the  evil,  and  organized  efforts  followed 
in  all  parts  of  the  country.  A  series  of  temperance  re- 
vivals culminated  in  1840  in  the  Washingtonian  move- 
ment, which  was  in  its  way  as  exciting  and  sweeping  as 
the  political  campaign  of  the  same  year.  It  was  esti- 
mated that  600,000  drunkards  were  rescued.  But  unfor- 
tunately the  effects  were  not  permanent,  as  at  least  three 
fourths  of  those  rescued  afterwards  returned  to  their 
cups. 

The  whole  tone  of  society  in  the  first  half  of  the  cen- 

11  T-»      1  •  Society 

tury  was  feverish  and  restless.  Perhaps  it  was  the  restless. 
"growing  pains"  of  the  young  giant  scarcely  yet  con- 
scious of  his  coming  place  among  the  nations.  At  any 
rate,  there  was  ferment  everywhere.  The  most  ad- 
vanced radicalism  and  extreme  orthodox  fervor  were  the 
marks  of  religion.  Reforms  of  every  kind  were  rife — 
reforms  in  regard  to  liquor  drinking,  dress,  food,  social 
organization,  and  everything  else.  Innumerable  relig- 
ious sects  were  formed,  each  zealously  pursuing  some 
peculiar  points  of  dissent.  In  1825  Robert  Owen 
founded  a  socialistic  settlement  in  Indiana.      He  planned 

,.,,...  ^  ,  .        .  ^  Socialism. 

this  to  be  the  beginning  01  a  complete  reorganization  01 
human  society,  which  should  burst  what  he  considered 


266  The  Growth  of  the  Americayi  Nation. 


Brook  Farm. 


Literature. 


Little  produced 
in  the  colonies. 


Rise  of  an  Amer- 
ican literature. 


to  be  the  triple  chains  which  held  men  in  slavery — indi- 
vidual property,  religion,  marriage.  But  the  experiment 
was  a  failure  in  every  respect,  and  by  1830  the  whole 
Owen  socialistic  movement  had  collapsed.  In  1841  a 
number  of  people  of  very  different  character,  such  as 
George  William  Curtis,  George  Ripley,  Hawthorne, 
Margaret  Fuller,  and  others,  tried  the  experiment  of  a 
farm  community  in  Massachusets.  But  after  a  few  years 
this  experiment  also  failed.  The  same  decade  witnessed  a 
revival  of  attempts  to  found  communities  under  the  im- 
petus of  Fourier's  ideas.  Many  settlements,  '  'phalanxes' ' 
they  were  called,  were  formed.  They  had  several  thous- 
ands of  people,  thousands  of  acres  of  excellent  land,  and 
many  thousands  of  dollars.  And  yet  all  of  them  failed 
and  went  to  pieces. 

Amid  this  social  unrest  there  was  slowly  forming  an 
American  literature.  During  the  colonial  period  there 
was  naturally  little  done  in  this  line.  The  stern  prob- 
lems of  a  new  and  liard  material  existence  absorbed  the 
energies.  And  the  comparative  isolation  and  narrow- 
ness of  life  would  hardly  stimulate  to  literary  production 
on  any  considerable  scale.  Theology  and  law  were  al- 
most the  only  outlet  for  any  surplus  of  intellectual  activ- 
ity. And  sermons,  with  theological  disputes,  were 
the  main  form  of  the  permanent  record  of  American 
thought.  Those  who  had  a  taste  for  reading  and 
study  filled  the  shelves  of  their  libraries  with  English 
books. 

Shakspere  and  Addison  and  Pope  were  the  common 
property  of  the  Old  World  and  the  New.  The  revo- 
lutionary period  generated  intense  political  thinking, 
thus  affording  a  new  means  of  expression.  The  news- 
papers, growing  in  influence,  were  the  record  of  much 
of  this.      And  political  tracts  multiplied  like  the  sands  of 


American  Social  Life.  267 


the  sea-shore.  But  as  the  national  Hfe  broadened  after 
the  War  of  181 2,  its  varying  phases  afforded  far  greater 
material  for  literary  industry,  while  its  increasing  energy 
and  richness  generated  the  intellectual  unrest  which 
must  find  its  expression  in  literary  form.  Irving,  the 
polished  narrator  and  delicate  humorist,  Bryant,  earliest   American 

■^  ^  _  -^  _     _  authors. 

of  American  singers  and  seers.  Cooper,  creator  of  distinc- 
tively American  fiction — these  were  of  the  first  vintage  of 
the  new  intellect.  In  the  decade  which  preceded  the  cam- 
paign of '  'Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  too, ' '  new  names  became 
household  words.  Longfellow,  Bancroft,  Prescott,  were 
already  famous.  Emerson  was  the  prophet  of  the  new 
philosophy  of  religion  and  life — a  philosophy  which  was 
essentially  poetry  rather  than  science.  And  a  young 
generation  was  beginning  to  create  a  fame  which  should 
be  lasting — Hawthorne,  Motley,  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes, 
Longfellow,  Poe,  Whittier.  At  the  same  time  the 
newspaper  press  witnessed  the  beginning  of  a  transfor- 
mation which  gave  it  vastly  greater  power  as  a  social 
factor.  In  1833  the  New  York  Sun  was  founded,  the 
first  successful  penny  paper  in  the  world.  The  Herald  Newspapers. 
followed  in  1835,  and  the  7>z^^^;^<?  was  an  outcome  of  the 
successful  Whig  campaign  of  1840.  All  of  these  devel- 
oped new  forms  of  gathering  and  presenting  the  news, 
and  in  their  unique  personality  had  a  new  and  peculiar 
influence  on  the  public  mind.  The  Tribu7ie  especially 
was  for  many  years  identified  with  Greeley  as  the  expo- 
nent of  Whig  politics  and  of  all  reformatory  social  views. 
Thus  the  decades  between  the  peace  of  Ghent  and 
the  annexation  of  Texas  were  filled  with  a  vigorous  and 
complex  life.  Material  progress,  social  reform,  religion 
and  philosophy,  literature  and  learning,  all  occupied  the  taking  form, 
widening  public  interest.  We  were  becoming  a  nation. 
The    first  war   with    England    gave   us   political   inde- 


268  The   Growth  of  the  American  NatioJi. 


Final  inde- 
pendence. 


pendence.  The  second  war  gave  us  economic  inde- 
pendence. And  by  the  end  of  our  Civil  War  in  1865, 
we  had  become  intellectually  independent.  When 
Dickens  first  visited  us,  in  1842,  his  criticisms  made  us 
smart.  Had  he  been  much  more  severe  in  1867,  at  the 
time  of  his  second  visit,  it  would  have  been  received 
with  good-humored  indifference. 


SUMMARY    OF  PART    IV. 


End  of  the  for- 
eign entangle- 
ments. 


A  new  life. 


The  American 
System. 


With  the  end  of  the  long  wars  between  France  and 
England  the  United  States  ceased  to  be  the  only  neutral 
power,  and  the  importance  of  American  foreign  com- 
merce, as  well  as  the  constant  recurrence  of  foreign 
difficulties,  came  to  an  end.  Thenceforth  the  new 
republic  was  left  to  the  orderly  development  of  its  ma- 
terial and  social  resources.  The  angry  politics  of  the 
Federalist  era  passed  away  and  there  was  a  general  re- 
construction of  parties.  Emigration  to  the  West  became 
very  large,  powerfully  stimulated  by  the  application  of 
steam  to  transportation.  Manufactures  had  grown  to 
considerable  proportions,  under  the  impulse  of  the  Em- 
bargo and  the  war.  The  active  English  competition 
which  followed  the  treaty  of  Ghent  was  met  by  a  series 
of  protective  tariff  laws,  and  the  disordered  finances  of 
the  country  were  restored  to  good  condition  by  the  res- 
toration of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States.  Henry 
Clay's  American  System  included  the  protective  tariff,  a 
series  of  internal  improvements  for  the  benefit  of  com- 
merce, and  the  preservation  of  the  American  continent 
from  European  interference.  The  last  point  was  em- 
bodied in  the  Monroe  Doctrine  of  1823. 


Summary  of  Part  IV. 


269 


Factious  opposition  to  J.  Q.  Adams  led  to  the  elevation 
of  Jackson  to  the  presidency.     He  was  very  popular  and  Jackson  and 

•'  ^     _  -^_   _  J    i      \.  nullification. 

formed  a  well-organized  political  party.  South  Carolina 
was  bitterly  opposed  to  the  extreme  protective  tariffs  of 
1828  and  1832,  and  in  the  latter  year  declared  these  laws 
null  and  void.  Jackson  threatened  coercion,  but  Con- 
gress in  1833  passed  a  compromise  tariff  bill  by  which  the 
duties  were  to  be  reduced  gradually.  Nullification  was 
accordingly  withdrawn.  The  followers  of  Clay  and  the 
various  elements  of  opposition  to  Jackson  united  under 
the  name  of  the  Whig  party.  Jackson  attacked  the  ^j^^  whigs 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  vetoed  a  bill  for  its  recharter, 
and  had  the  federal  deposits  removed  from  its  keeping. 
Over-speculation  aided  these  measures  in  precipitating 
the  business  panic  of  1837.  Jackson's  successor,  Van 
Buren,  was  overwhelmed  in  1840  by  a  political  tidal  wave  Election  of  1840. 
which  carried  General  Harrison  to  the  White  House. 
He  died  only  a  month  after  his  inauguration,  and  was 
succeeded  by  the  vice-president,  Tyler.  He  opposed 
the  policy  of  his  party,  and  vetoed  Whig  measures.  A 
tariff  act  restoring  higher  duties  became  a  law  in  1842. 
Meanwhile  American  society  had  been  growing  more 
complex  in  every  way.  Material  wealth  was  increasing, 
while  moral  and  intellectual  forces  were  becoming  more 
powerful.  Crude  reforms  of  all  kinds  were  set  on  foot, 
and  the  deeper  consciousness  of  the  nation  found  ex- 
pression in  the  beginnings  of  a  distinctive  literature. 
The  results  of  colonial  dependence  were  fading  away. 


Social  evo- 
lution. 


PART  V. 
SLAVERY  AND  STATE  RIGHTS. 


Abraham  Lincoln. 


PART  V-SLAVERY  AND  STATE  RIGHTS. 

CHAPTER  XXL 

THE    MISSOURI    COMPROMISE. 

References. — Bancroft  ;  McMaster  ;  Schouler  ;  Von  Hoist  ; 
Greeley  :  The  American  Conflict ;  Pollard  :  The  Lost  Cause  ; 
Stephens  :  The  War  Between  the  States  ;  Wright  :  The  Indus- 
trial Evolution  of  the  Ufiited  States. 

The  series  of  events  which  led  up  to  the  Civil   War   ^i^^^^y  ^^^ 
was  compounded  of  two  questions  which  had  to  each   ^tate  rights, 
other  a  relation  wholly  incidental.      One  was  industrial 
■ — it  was  a  phase  of  the  relation  of  capital  to  labor.      The 
other  was  constitutional — it  concerned  the  relation  of  the 
states  to  the  federal  Union.   When  Virginia  and  Kentucky 
in  1798-9  assumed  the  broadest  ground  of  state  rights,  it 
was  with  reference  to  a  subject — the   Alien   and  Sedition 
Laws — which  had  nothing  w^hatever  to  do  with  slavery. 
And  the  Hartford  Convention  in  1814  showed  New  Eng- 
land Federalists  using,  in  opposition  to  the  English  war, 
the  same  view  of  the  constitution  as  had  served  the  Re-   ^^^^^  ^.  ^^^^  ^^^ 
publicans  in   1798.      In   other  w^ords,  strict  construction   "e^S?wiai'^'^"" 
of  the  organic  law  and  a  large  conception  of  state  rights   slavery. 
are    inevitable    whenever   one    section    of    the     Union 
finds  or  fancies  that  its  interests  are  antagonistic  to  those 
which  control  the  federal  government.      In   1798  some 
states  felt  that  personal  liberty  was  assailed  by  the  legis- 
lation of  the  party  in   power.      In    18 14  New    England 
saw  its   main  material   interests  destroyed  by  a   policy 
of  hostility    to    England.      In    1832   South  Carolina  be- 

273 


274  ^^^^  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Slavery  de- 
pendent on 
state  rights. 


African  slavery 
generally  ap- 
proved ill  the 
seventeenth 
century. 


Slavery  in  all 
the  colonies. 


lieved  that  a  protective  tariff  was  wholly  in  the  interest 
of  Northern  States  and  was  only  a  damage  to  the  South. 
In  i860  the  cotton  states  were  convinced  that  their 
entire  industrial  organization  was  in  peril  at  the  hands 
of  the  new  party  which  had  attained  power  at  Washing- 
ton. So  it  is  plain  that  the  question  of  slavery  and  the 
question  of  state  rights  had,  as  has  been  said,  a  connec- 
tion which  was  only  incidental. 

Perhaps  a  more  exact  statement  would  be,  that  state 
rights,  in  the  wide  sense,  had  no  necessary  connection 
with  slavery,  while  slavery,  on  the  other  hand,  was  abso- 
lutely dependent  on  state  rights.  It  existed  in  virtue 
of  state  laws,  the  constitution  gave  the  national  govern- 
ment no  power  to  interfere  with  those  laws,  and  the  in- 
stitution could  be  protected  only  by  the  preservation  un- 
impaired of  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  states. 

When  negroes  were  first  brought  to  Virginia,  about 
1 61 9,  slavery  of  inferior  races  was  a  recognized  institu- 
tion among  civilized  nations.  Queen  Elizabeth  gave  the 
honor  of  knighthood  to  the  first  successful  trader  in  African 
slaves,  John  Hawkins.  The  last  slave  trader  of  Anglo- 
Saxon  race  was  not  knighted.  He  was  hanged  in  New 
York  in  1861.  The  two  facts  illustrate  vividly  the  wide 
difference  between  the  world's  way  of  thinking  in  the 
sixteenth  century  and  in  the  nineteenth.  What  we  abhor 
was  three  hundred  years  ago  a  matter  of  course. 

Indeed,  so  much  was  it  a  matter  of  course  that  slaves 
soon  came  to  be  held  in  all  the  colonies.  The  most 
serious  problem  which  faced  the  settler  in  a  new  land 
was  how  to  provide  labor.  Negroes  were  bought 
readily  as  a  solution  of  the  difficulty.  And  so  it  came 
about  that  when  the  colonies  in  1776  declared  that  all  men 
are  endowed  by  nature  with  freedom,  in  truth  negro  slaves 
were  held  under  the  laws  of  every  one  of  the  thirteen. 


The  Missouri  Compromise.  275 

However,  conditions  of  climate  and  soil  brought  it  it  seems  to  be 
about  that  the  system  had  but  a  slight  hold  on  the  north-  "^^'"^  °"^" 
ern  colonies.  And  in  all,  northern  and  southern  alike, 
a  general  disapproval  of  slavery  had  grown  up.  Accord- 
ingly, w^hen  the  revolt  from  Great  Britain  had  put  their 
domestic  institutions  in  the  hands  of  the  colonists,  they 
soon  began  to  modify  the  slave  system.  In  1780  Massa- 
chusetts adopted  a  new  constitution  containing  a  bill  of 
rights  which  declared  all  men  born  free  and  equal.  And 
in  a  suit  brought  under  this  provision  the  courts  held 
that  slavery  in  the  state  was  thereby  abolished.  Gradual 
emancipation  was  provided  within  the  next  few  years  by 
several  states — Pennsylvania  in  1780,  New  Hampshire 
in  1783,  Rhode  Island  and  Connecticut  in  1784,  and 
New  York  in  1799.  Vermont  in  1790  adopted  a  con- 
stitution which  forbade  slavery.  The  Southern  States 
did  not  go  so  far,  but  nearly  all  of  them  took  some 
action  to  discourage  the  extension  of  slavery — removing 
legal  restraints  on  emancipation,  and  prohibiting  the 
further  introduction  of  slaves.  New  Jersey  also  followed 
this  plan,  and  only  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  were 
left  as  distinctly  advocating  the  permanence  of  the  insti- 
tution. 

In  1787  an  ordinance  was  passed  for  the  government  The  Ordinance 
of  the  territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio  River.  And  0^1787- 
among  the  articles  of  compact  included  was  one  abso- 
lutely forbidding  slavery.  It  was  this  proviso  which  se- 
cured for  free  labor  the  future  states  north  of  the  Ohio 
and  east  of  the  Mississippi.  Indiana  and  Illinois  at  least 
would  otherwise  very  likely  have  been  slave  states.  And 
it  is  not  easy  to  conjecture  how  history  might  have  been 
changed  had  that  been  the  case.  The  Ordinance  of 
1787,  almost  the  last  important  act  of  the  Congress  of 
the  Confederation,  w^as  adopted  by  the  unanimous  vote 


276 


The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Germs  of  the 
Missouri  Com- 
promise. 


Slavery  in  the 
constitution. 


Representation 
and  taxation. 


Constitution, 
Art.  I.,  Sec.  2 
Par.  3. 


The  slave  trade. 


Constitution, 
Art.  I.,  Sec.  9, 
Par.  I. 


Art.  IV.,  Sec.  2, 
Par.  3. 


of  the  States.  But  it  should  be  noted  that  slavery  pro- 
hibition in  the  Northwest  was  by  implication  permission 
for  the  Southwest.  And  accordingly,  at  a  later  date, 
Alabama  and  Mississippi  were  admitted  as  slave  states. 
Thus  early  was  there  a  virtual  division  of  the  national 
territory  between  the  two  forms  of  industrial  organization. 

In  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1787  the  slavery 
question  was  one  of  the  difficulties.  Should  negroes  be 
reckoned  as  persons,  the  states  which  had  many  slaves 
would  gain  largely  in  the  apportionment  both  of  repre- 
sentatives in  Congress  and  of  presidential  electors.  But 
as  it  had  been  decided  that  direct  taxes  should  be  as- 
signed according  to  population,  on  the  other  hand  it 
was  of  financial  moment  to  the  South  that  slaves  should 
be  considered  as  chattels  rather  than  as  persons;  and  for 
the  Northern  States  these  considerations  were  of  course 
exactly  reversed.  These  conflicting  political  and  finan- 
cial interests  were  settled  by  the  compromise,  which  pro- 
vided that  in  apportioning  both  representatives  and 
direct  taxes  five  slaves  should  be  considered  as  equal  to 
three  free  men. 

The  foreign  slave  trade  was  another  bone  of  conten- 
tion. The  majority  of  the  states  wished  to  put  an  end 
to  it  by  federal  authority,  as  they  had  done  already  in 
one  way  or  another  separately,  but  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  regarded  the  further  importation  of  this  form  of 
labor  as  essential,  and  flatly  refused  to  confederate  unless 
this  point  should  be  conceded.  Here  again  a  conclu- 
sion was  reached  by  compromise.  Congress  was  for- 
bidden to  meddle  with  the  slave  trade  for  twenty  years, 
and  at  the  same  time  the  provision  for  the  interstate  ex- 
tradition of  persons  ' '  held  to  service  or  labor ' '  was 
added.  On  the  other  hand,  besides  consenting  that  the 
slave  trade  should  cease  with  the  year  1808,  the  South 


The  Missouri  Compromise.  277 

also  conceded  to  Congress  the  power  to  control  com-   ^^.^  j   g^^^  g 
merce — a  thing-  greatly  desired  in  the  East,  and  which   ^^'■-  ^• 
the  Southern  States  were  reluctant  to  yield. 

By  the  tenth  amendment  to  the  constitution,  adopted  Theconsti- 
in  1 79 1,  it  was  stipulated  that  "powers  not  delegated  oJ-^giaTer?^^"^ 
to  the  United  States  by  the  constitution,  nor  prohibited 
by  it  to  the  states,  are  reserved  to  the  states  respectively, 
or  to  the  people."  In  the  light  of  this  amendment,  and  of 
the  constitutional  provisions  above  noted,  it  is  clear  that 
the  federal  government  could  have  no  legal  authority  to 
interfere  with  slavery  in  the  states.  The  importation  of 
slaves  from  abroad  might  be  forbidden  in  1808,  but  that 
was  all. 

However,  it  was  commonly  hoped  and  believed  that 
in  the  South,  as  in  the  North,  slavery  would  gradually 
die  out.  But  this  hope  was  doomed  to  disappointment. 
Two  unforeseen  events  made  so  complete  a  change  in  the 
situation  that,  far  from  fading  away,  slavery  sprang  into 
new  life.  These  events  were,  the  invention  of  the  cot- 
ton-gin, in  1793,  and  the  annexation  of  Louisiana,  in 
1803. 

Cotton  had  been  raised  in  the  South  for  more  than  a 
century,  but  the  quantity  was  small,  as  it  did  not  pay. 
The  trouble  was  that  it  took  too  much  time  and  work  to 
clean  the  fiber  from  the  seed.  A  slave  working  all  day 
by  hand  could  not  clean  more  than  one  pound  of  cotton. 
Using  the  machine  known  as  the  roller-gin  he  could 
clean  about  five  pounds.  So  the  English  factories  were 
obliged  to  draw  their  supply  of  raw  material  from  India, 
where  the  cost  of  labor  was  less  even  than  in  the  Ameri- 
can slave  states. 

But  in   179^  Eli  Whitney,  a   native  of  Massachusetts   Whitney's 

11-/-  cotton-gin. 

and  a  graduate  of  Yale  College,  happened  to  be  m  Geor- 
gia.   Being  of  an  ingenious  turn  of  mind,  he  set  to  work 


Cotton. 


278  The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Wright,  128. 


Bishop,  I.,  356. 


An  industrial 
revolution. 


The  purchase 
of  Louisiana. 


to  solve  the  difficulty,  and  succeeded  In  inventing  the 
machine  since  so  well  known  as  the  saw-gin.  It  was  an 
immediate  and  stupendous  success.  By  its  use  a  negro 
In  one  day  could  clean  a  thousand  pounds  of  fiber.  It 
happened  just  at  this  time  that  the  successive  Inventions 
of  machinery  In  Europe  had  enormously  stimulated  the 
manufacture  of  cotton  cloth,  so  that  there  was  a  greatly 
Increased  demand  for  the  raw  material.  And  this  demand 
the  Southern  States  were  now  able  to  supply.  The  ex- 
port had  been  under  200,000  pounds  In  1791,  and  still 
less  in  1792.  In  1793  It  was  nearly  half  a  million,  in 
1794  it  was  1,610,760  pounds,  In  1795  6,276,300.  In 
1859  the  export  was  1,386,468,562  pounds,  valued  at 
$161,434,923.  The  price  also  at  the  end  of  the  last 
century  was  steadily  rising.  In  1790  It  was  14/^  cents 
a  pound,  in  1792,  29  cents  ;  In  1793,  33  cents  ;  in  1794, 
33  cents  ;  In  1795,  36)^  cents  ;  In  1799,  44  cents. 

All  this  was  a  great  Industrial  revolution.  At  once 
there  was  a  field  for  vast  wealth  open  to  the  Southern 
States.  From  Carolina  to  Louisiana  the  climate  and  soil 
were  favorable  to  the  cotton  plant,  and  land  and  negroes 
rose  greatly  in  value.  Soon  it  was  estimated  that  an 
able-bodied  negro  was  worth  as  many  hundred  dollars  as 
cotton  was  cents  a  pound.  It  Is  quite  plain  what  must 
have  been  the  effect  of  this  on  the  institution  of  slavery. 
If  steps  looking  toward  emancipation  had  been  difficult 
when  slaves  had  not  been  very  valuable,  how  enormously 
greater  must  the  difficulty  have  become  when  slaves  were 
a  source  of  untold  wealth  !  It  Is  only  just  to  remember 
that  the  states  which  thus  far  had  freed  their  negroes 
had  had  no  such  problem  to  solve. 

The  greatest  triumph  of  Jefferson's  presidency  was  the 
purchase  of  Louisiana.  It  doubled  the  national  area 
and  put  at  rest  forever  a  dangerous  dispute  as  to  the 


The  Missouri  Compromise. 


279 


commercial  outlet  of  the  great  valley.  But  incidentally 
it  greatly  extended  the  domain  of  slavery.  That  institu- 
tion was  recognized  by  the  laws  of  France  and  Spain,  so 
that  when  Louisiana  came  under  our  flag  it  came  as  slave 
territory.  And  it  was  stipulated  in  the  treaty  of  cession 
that  the  inhabitants  of  the  ceded  territory  should  be  pro- 
tected in  the  enjoyment  of  their  liberty,  property,  and  ^j^^^jf^^J?^ 
religion.  Among  their  property  were  negro  slaves. 
And  when  the  state  of  Louisiana  was  admitted  to  the 
Union,  in  181 2,  it  was  a  slave  state,  as  a  matter  of  course. 
But  when  new  states  should  come  to  be  formed  from  the 
remainder  of  the   French  purchase,  should  they  also  be 


State  Capitol  Building,  Raleigh,  North  Carolina. 

slave  States  ?  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  slavery  al- 
ready existed  there.  The  territorial  laws  both  of  Mis- 
souri and  Arkansas  recognized  negroes  as  property,  and 
these  laws  were  made  valid  by  act  of  Congress. 

Little  thought  seems  to  have  been  given  to  the  sub- 
ject until   1818,  when   Missouri  applied  to  Congress  for 


Missouri  and 
Ai-kansas  slave 
territories. 


28o  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Aprils,  1818. 


Maine  and 
Missouri. 


The  Thomas 
compromise, 
1820. 


Bitterness  of 
the  contest. 


admission  as  a  state.  A  bill  for  that  purpose  was  intro- 
duced in  the  House,  and  was  sent  up  to  the  Senate  with 
an  amendment,  moved  by  Tallmadge  of  New  York, 
which  prohibited  slavery.  The  Senate  struck  out  the 
amendment,  and  the  bill  failed  to  become  a  law.  In  the 
next  Congress  the  effort  to  admit  Missouri  was  resumed. 
But  now  a  new  feature  appeared.  The  district  of  Maine, 
thus  far  a  part  of  Massachusetts,  desired  to  become  a 
separate  state.  The  House  passed  a  bill  to  that  effect, 
which  the  Senate  would  not  accept  unless  Missouri  should 
be  admitted,  also,  and  without  the  Tallmadge  proviso. 
The  deadlock  which  resulted  was  only  broken  by  a  com- 
promise moved  by  Senator  Thomas,  of  Illinois.  This 
provided  that  Maine  and  Missouri  should  both  be  ad- 
mitted, in  each  case  without  mention  of  slavery,  but  that 
in  the  remainder  of  the  French  purchase  north  of  the 
southern  boundary  of  Missouri  slavery  should  be  forever 
prohibited.  After  a  long  struggle  the  House  was  in- 
duced to  accept  this  measure,  but  only  by  the  close  vote 
of  ninety  to  eighty-seven.  The  minority  were  all  from 
the  free  states,  while  of  the  majority  seventy-six  were 
from  slave  states. 

The  contest  in  Congress  over  the  above  measures, 
lasting,  indeed,  until  1821,  when  Missouri  finally  be- 
came a  state,  was  exceedingly  violent  and  bitter.  Our 
political  annals  had  as  yet  seen  nothing  like  it.  The 
long-dominant  Republican  party  was  rent  in  twain,  and 
the  slave  state  members  freely  threatened  the  dissolution 
of  the  Union  if  the  policy  of  restriction  should  be 
adopted.  The  dispute  was  the  more  alarming  as  it  was 
utterly  unexpected.  Jefferson  wrote  to  a  friend,  ' '  This 
momentous  question,  like  a  fire-bell  In  the  night,  awak- 
ened and  filled  me  with  terror. ' '  It  disclosed  a  radical 
divergence  of  view  between  the  North  and  the  South, 


The  Missouri  Compromise.  281 

and  an  intensity  of  feeling  of  which  no  one  had  dreamed. 

Slavery,  it  was  suddenly  discovered,  was  not  a  moribund   Renascenceof 

-^  '  ^  '  slavery  in  the 

institution  at  all,  but,  on  the  contrary,  was  vigorous  with  South. 
a  new  life.  The  growing  wealth  of  the  cotton  trade  had 
done  its  work.  The  gulf  states  raised  and  marketed  the 
staple.  The  border  states  raised  and  marketed  the  labor, 
and  all  alike  were  now  growing  rich  from  slavery.  The 
section  'line,  too,  was  sharply  drawn.  The  southern 
members  stood  solidly  together  for  slavery  extension. 
The  northern  members  were  nearly  unanimous  for  free 
soil.  In  truth,  it  was  here  that  the  Civil  War  was  really 
begun.    The  first  shot  was  the  Tallmadge  proviso  in  1 8 1 8. 

In  truth,  extension  was  a  vital  necessity  for  slavery. 
Should  it  once  be  hemmed  in  by  a  cordon  of  free  states,  essential  for 
sooner  or  later  it  was  doomed.  All  saw  this  clearly. 
Hence  the  ardor  with  which  the  Free  Soilers  of  18 18-21 
struggled  to  keep  Missouri  north  of  the  slave  line,  and 
hence  the  desperation  with  which  the  South  strove  for 
the  other  issue.  The  compromise  was  a  partition  of  the 
national  territory  between  freedom  and  slavery. 

Starting  as  they  did  from  diametrically  opposite  ideas  The  logic  of 
and  convictions,  it  is  easy  to  see  that  the  sections  were 
driven  by  the  remorseless  logic  of  fate  to  the  issue  of 
war.  Had  there  been  sufficient  wisdom  to  see  that 
slavery  was  behind  the  age,  that  its  doom  in  the  end 
was  sure,  that  it  was  a  national  evil  to  be  dealt  with  at 
national  cost,  the  nation  might  have  been  saved  count- 
less loss  in  blood  and  treasure  and  fratricidal  animosity. 
A  wise  scheme  of  compensated  gradual  emancipation 
would  have  spared  us  all.  But  doubtless  this  would  have 
been  too  much  to  expect  of  frail  men.  We  were  not  in 
1820  a  republic  of  sages.     We  are  not  that  in  1895. 


fate. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 


Garrison. 


The  abolition 
ists. 


THE    COMPROMISE     OF    1850. 

References. — As  in  Chapter  XXL;  also,  Rhodes  :  History 
of  the  United  States  from  the  Compromise  of  i8§o. 

We  have  seen  elsewhere  that  the  two  decades  fol- 
lowing 1820  were  a  period  of  intellectual  and  moral  fer- 
ment. New  ideas  were  rife  in  all  fields  of  thought.  Re- 
forms, real  and  imaginary,  were  turning  up  everywhere, 
and  among  all  these  uneasy  motions  of  the  public  mind 
and  conscience  we  may  be  sure  that  slavery  was  not 
overlooked.  In  1831  William  Lloyd  Garrison  estab- 
lished in  Boston  a  newspaper.  The  Liberator,  devoted  to 
advocating  the  immediate  abolition  of  slavery.  He  was 
utterly  fearless  and  in  dead  earnest.  He  compelled  a 
hearing.  And  from  that  time  agitation  against  slavery 
never  ceased  until  slavery  ceased  to  be.  The  turmoil 
which  followed  excited  in  South  and  North  alike  the 
most  violent  anger.  And  this  was  not  merely  because 
in  the  former  section  the  institution  was  now  so  deeply 
rooted  that  it  seemed  impossible  to  tear  it  up  without 
destroying  society  itself  In  the  North  the  abolitionists 
were  discredited  by  the  curious  assortment  of  "  isms  " 
which  many  of  them  had.  All  the  fantastic  and  crude 
notions  of  social  regeneration  which  possessed  the 
' '  cranks  ' '  of  that  day  seemed  to  gather  in  full  force  at 
abolition  conventions.  Such  distinguished  abolitionist 
citizens  as  Judge  William  Jay,  the  Tappans,  and  Whit- 
tier,  the  young  poet,  did  not  avail  to  rescue  the  move- 
ment from  obloquy.  Its  adherents  were  socially  ostra- 
cized.     Their  meetings  were  broken  up  by  mobs.       In 

282 


The   Compromise  of  18^0.  283 

1836,  at  Alton,    Illinois,    the   Rev.    E.    P.    Lovejoy,  an 
abolition  leader,  was  killed. 

Among  northern  men  of  antislavery  views  there  were  Three  classes 
three  general  classes.  The  radicals  regarded  the  consti-  j[^antisiavery 
tution  as  a  pro-slavery  document.  Garrison  called  it  "  a 
covenant  with  death  and  an  agreement  with  hell."  Ac- 
cordingly the  Garrisonians  refused  to  vote  or  to  hold 
office  under  the  accursed  frame  of  government.  A  sec- 
ond class  held  that  slavery  was  to  be  attacked  only  by 
the  ordinary  political  methods.  They  formed,  there- 
fore, a  party  for  separate  political  action,  the  Liberty 
party,  and  in  1840  cast  for  their  presidential  candidate 
about  7,000  votes.  But  there  was  a  considerable  body 
of  moderate  men  who  thought  that  the  regular  party 
organizations  were  adequate  to  prevent  the  extension  of 
slavery.  Its  abolition  in  the  states  they  did  not  seek. 
So  they  continued  to  be  Whigs  or  Democrats. 

It  was  very  plain  that  the  Compromise  of  1820  gave 
to  free  soil  a  much  greater  portion  of  the  territory  bought 
of  France  than  it  gave  to  slavery.  True,  the  balance 
was  partly  restored  by  the  purchase  of  Florida  from  Purchase  of 
Spain,  in  1821.  But  the  treaty  which  secured  this  new  I'lorida,  1821. 
territory  at  the  same  time  settled  the  boundary  between 
the  United  States  and  the  remaining  possessions  of  the 
Spanish  king  in  North  America,  and  in  so  doing  re- 
linquished all  claim  to  Texas.  When  the  French  owned 
Louisiana  they  urged  certain  reasons  for  declaring  that  it 
extended  to  the  Rio  Grande.  Spain,  however,  insisted 
that  it  did  not  cross  the  Sabine.  So  when  we  bought 
the  land  we  acquired  a  dispute,  and  in  the  treaty  of  1821 
we  relinquished  our  claim  to  Texas — this  being,  indeed, 
one  of  the  considerations  which  induced  the  Spanish  aballdoned!^^^^ 
king  to  yield  up  Florida. 

But  the  fertile  prairies  of   Texas   were  too  near  the 


284 


The   Growth  of  the  A7nerica7i  Natio7i. 


American 
settlements 
in  Texas. 


American  line  not  to  attract  immigration,  and  beginning 
with  1 82 1  numbers  of  settlers  crossed  the  border  and 
made  for  themselves  a  home  under  the  Mexican  flag. 
Being  from  the  Southwestern  States  they  naturally  took 
their  slaves  with  them.  But  in  1829  the  Mexican  Re- 
public abolished  slavery  throughout  all  its  territory,  and 
this  excited  grave  discontent  among  the  American  set- 
tlers.    Ultimately  they  revolted  from  Mexico,   and    in 


After 

in  1845,  and  the  acquislj 
the  Oregon  Country  byTr 
with  ei.Britain  in  1346.  "p 


Texan  inde- 
pendence, 1836. 


Annexation 
desired. 


1836  declared  their  independence,  and  this  declaration 
they  maintained  by  decisive  success  against  the  Mexican 
armies.  • 

But  it  was  not  independence  so  much  as  annexation  to 
the  United  States  which  the  Texans  desired.  And  in 
this  wish  they  were  supported  by  a  large  number  of  the 
American  people.  Mexico,  however,  had  refused  to 
acknowledge  the  independence  of  Texas.  And  so  when 
one  of  the  last  acts  of  Jackson's  administration  was 
to  recognize  the  new  republic,  Mexico  felt  no  little  ag- 


The  Compromise  of  iS^o.  285 

grieved.      The  United  States  had   repented  long;  before   ^^^^1013  to 
that  Texas  had  been  given  up  in  1821,  and  more  than   buy  Texas, 
once  tried  to  buy  it.      But  Mexico  would  not  narrow  her 
boundaries.     In   1837  Van  Buren  declined  a  treaty  of 
annexation  with  Texas  on  the    express  ground  that  its 
acceptance  would  necessarily  embroil  the   United   States   Attempts  to 
with  Mexico.     When  Mr.    Tyler  became  president  the  ^""^^  ^exas. 
plan  was  again  urged  and  he  took   it  up  eagerly.      Cal- 
houn became  secretary  of  state  in  March,  1844,  and  by 
April  had   negotiated  a  treaty  of  annexation.      But  the    .  ^.jj  ^^ 
Senate  rejected  it. 

Then  it  was  that  the  annexationists,  strong  in  the  ex- 
treme South,  set  out  to  bring  their  scheme  into  the  polit- 
ical campaign  of  that  year.  Late  in  April  letters  were 
published  from  both  Clay  and  Van  Buren  opposing  im- 
mediate annexation.  Very  likely  this  was  concerted 
action,  intended  to  keep  the  Texas  question  out  of  the 
canvass.  It  was  too  late  to  prevent  the  nomination  of 
Clay.  But  the  Democratic  convention  did  not  meet  un- 
til the  27th  of  May,  and  thus  the  opponents  of  Van 
Buren,  who  thus  far  was  the  only  candidate  of  the  de- 
mocracy, had  time  to  muster  a  formidable  opposition. 
A  majority  of  the  convention  favored  Van  Buren.  Never- 
theless the  two  thirds  rule,  which  had  prevailed  in  every 
Democratic  convention  since  1832,  was  adopted,  and 
that  compassed  Van  Buren' s  defeat.     On  the  ninth  bal-   Defeat  of 

^  Vail  Buren. 

lot  the  nomination  went  to  James  K.  Polk,  of  Tennessee, 
a  radical  annexationist.  The  platform  was  conveniently 
vague  on  the  tariff,  but  declared  emphatically  for  the 
immediate  annexation  of  Texas,  and  for  the  whole  of 
Oregon  as  far  north  as  Russian  America.  Oregon  was 
the  name  then  given  to  the  land  between  the  Rocky  ^^^J^^^^^ 
Mountains  and  the  Pacific,  reaching  from  California  to 
the  Russian  possessions.   We  claimed  it  all  on  the  ground 


annexation. 


286  The   Growth  of  the  Aniericayi  Nation. 


The  Oregon 
question. 


Election  of 

1844. 


Defeat  of  Clay. 


Texas  annexed. 


Polk's  plans. 


-Schouler,  IV., 
498. 


Low  tariff. 


of  discovery  and  exploration,  and  the  British  made  sim- 
ilar claims  as  far  south  as  the  Columbia  River. 

The  Whig  platform  was  silent  as  to  Texas  and  Oregon, 
and  the  leaders  tried  to  turn  the  canvass  to  the  old  issues 
of  the  tariff,  the  bank,  and  internal  improvements.  But 
the  Democratic  planks  of  the  immediate  annexation  of 
Texas  and  ' '  the  whole  of  Oregon  or  none ' '  proved 
taking  with  the  people.  The  Whigs  strained  every 
nerve  to  elect  Henry  Clay.  But  it  was  in  vain.  The 
candidate  himself  turned  the  scale  by  writing  a  letter  in 
which  he  intimated  that  he  might  under  some  circum- 
stances be  pleased  to  see  Texas  annexed.  This  was  in- 
tended for  the  latitude  of  Alabama.  But  it  served  to 
alienate  so  many  antislavery  Whigs  in  New  York  that 
their  vote,  going  to  the  Liberty  party,  gave  Polk  the 
state.  His  plurality  was  about  5,000,  while  the  Liberty 
party  polled  nearly  16,000  votes,  as  against  less  than 
3,000  in  1840.  And  the  electoral  vote  of  New  York 
made  Polk  president. 

Tyler  interpreted  the  election  as  an  indorsement  of 
annexation,  and  took  immediate  steps  to  secure  the 
glory  for  himself  A  joint  resolution  of  Congress  em- 
powering the  president  to  annex  Texas  under  certain 
conditions  received  the  executive  approval  on  the  ist  of 
March,  1845.  And  on  the  3d  Tyler's  nephew  set  out 
for  Texas  with  the  official  offer.  It  was  accepted,  and  on 
the  29th  of  December  following  an  act  of  Congress  for- 
mally admitted  Texas  to  the  Union. 

James  Knox  Polk  had  been  a  stanch  adherent  of 
Jackson.  He  was  an  austere  religionist,  blameless  in  his 
private  life,  stern  and  determined  in  all  his  ways.  He 
came  to  the  presidency  with  four  distinct  plans.  And 
each  of  them  he  carried  out  with  remorseless  energy. 

His  first  plan  was  to  reduce  the  tariff.      Polk  had  car- 


The   Compromise  of  iSjo. 


287 


ried  Pennsylvania,  always  a  protection  state,  under  the 
banner  of  "  Polk,  Dallas,  and  the  Tariff  of  '42."  But 
the  new  president  was  a  southern  low  tariff  man.  His 
secretary  of  the  treasury  was  Robert  J.  Walker,  of  Mis- 
sissippi. And  one  of  the  landmarks  of  the  administra- 
tion was  the  enactment  of  the  Walker  tariff  of  1846, 
whereby  the  rates  were  reduced  to  about  those  of  the 
Compromise  of  1833. 

The  second  plan  was  the  independent  treasury.  This 
measure  had  been 
adopted  in  Van 
Buren's  administra- 
tion, and  repealed 
by  the  Whigs  in 
1 84 1.  It  was  now 
reenacted,  and  has 
since  then  remained 
a  part  of  our  finan- 
cial system. 

The  third  plan 
was  to  secure  the 
whole  of  Oregon. 
Had  Polk  succeeded 
in  this,  British 
America  would  have 
been  wholly  cut  off 
from  the  Pacific. 
But  in  fact  our  title 
to  the  whole  of  this 
great  country  was 
by  no  means  clear,  and  the  administration  wisely  com- 
promised by  running  the  parallel  of  49°  westward  to  the 
Pacific.  ' '  Fifty-four  forty  or  fight, ' '  was  the  Democratic 
slogan  in  '44.     We  didn't  get  54°  40',  and  we  didn't 


James  Knox  Polk. 
Born,  1795;  died,  1849.    Educated  at  the  Univer- 
sity of  North  Carolina  ;  lawyer  ;  U.  S.  Congress, 
1825-39  ;  Rovernor  of  Tennessee,  1839  ;  president 
of  the  United  States,  1845-9. 


Dallas  of  Penn- 
sylvania was 
elected  vice- 
president. 


The  independ- 
ent treasury. 
P.  249. 


Oregon. 


Treaty  of  1846. 

Schouler,  IV., 

504-14. 


288         The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


California. 


Mexico  goaded 
to  war. 


Taylor's 
victories. 


fight.      But  an  ugly  dispute  was  put  at  rest,  and  on  the 
whole  in  an  equitable  way. 

The  fourth  plan  was  to  secure  further  annexation  from 
Mexico.  California  in  1845  was  by  no  means  the  golden 
name  it  has  been  since  '  48.  It  meant  a  vast  area  of  sunny 
land  which  was  the  home  of  the  grape  and  of  great  herds 
of  cattle.  It  was  sparsely  settled  by  Mexicans,  and  a 
few  American  emigrants  had  already  roamed  across  its 
borders  and  established  their  rude  homes.  English  plots 
were  beUeved  to  be  busy,  and  it  would  have  caused  little 
surprise  had  that  benevolent  nation,  always  land  hungry, 
quietly  raised  the  cross  of  St.  George  at  San  Francisco. 
But  the  fever  for  annexation  was  burning  in  the  veins  of 
all  Americans.  Florida  had  been  bought  and  Texas 
annexed.  Under  the  Missouri  Compromise  room  for 
the  expansion  of  slavery  could  not  be  found  in  the  ex- 
isting territory  of  the  United  States.  But  if  Mexico 
could  now  be  cajoled  or  forced  into  ceding  California 
another  great  area  would  be  opened  to  slavery  propa- 
gandists. 

There  were  plenty  of  pretexts  for  a  quarrel  with  Mex- 
ico. The  most  convenient  of  these  was  the  disputed 
boundary  of  Texas.  That  state  claimed  the  line  of  the 
Rio  Grande;  the  Mexicans  only  admitted  the  line  of  the 
Nueces.  General  Zachary  Taylor  was  ordered  to  take 
military  possession  of  the  disputed  district.  This  he 
did,  and  thus  goaded  the  Mexican  troops  to  attack  him. 
Then  Congress  was  able  to  declare  that  war  existed  ' '  by 
the  act  of  Mexico."  In  truth,  had  the  American  ad- 
ministration desired  peace  it  is  likely  that  reasonable  for- 
bearance would  have  brought  about  a  settlement.  But 
it  was  war — and  California — which  Polk  wanted. 

The  first  small  collision  of  arms  was  followed  by  two 
sharp  battles  on  the  Texan  side  of  the  Rio   Grande,  in 


The   Compromise  of  iS^o. 


289 


both  of  which  the  Mexicans  were  defeated.  Taylor  then 
crossed  the  ri\'er  and  pushed  his  advance  into  Mexico. 
Meanwhile  an  expedition  under  General  Kearney  occu- 
pied Santa  Fe,  and  Commodore  Sloat,  on  the  Pacific 
coast,  raised  the  American  flag  in  California. 

In  the  following  year  General  Winfield  Scott  with  a 
powerful  army  occupied  Vera  Cruz  and  cut  his  way  to 
the  City  of  Mexico.     Meanwhile  Taylor  had  captured 
Monterey,  and  had  suc- 
cessfully repelled  an  at- 
tack on   his    position 
made    with   overwhelm- 
ing numbers    at    Buena 
Vista. 

Indeed,  the  war  was  a 
series  of  victories  for  the 
United  States.  Mexico 
was  poor,  distracted  with 
revolutions,  utterly  un- 
able to  cope  with  her 
powerful  neighbor. 
True,  our  armies  showed 
great  heroism  in  many 
trying  circumstances. 
But,  after  all,  Mexico 
was  overmatched.  Her 
soldiers  fought  with  des- 
perate gallantry.  They 
Avere  defeated,  but  their 
honor  was  not  lost.  And  citizens  of  the  great  republic 
can  have  little  pride  in  a  war  which  was  aggressive  in  its 
inception  and  whose  object  was  the  spoliation  of  a  weaker 
power.  The  Mexicans  made  what  terms  they  could. 
They  accepted  the  Rio  Grande  frontier.     They  surren- 


Nevv  Mexico 
and  California 
seized. 


Scott  takes  the 
City  of  Mexico. 


Character  of 
the  war. 


Winfield  Scott. 
Born,  1786;  died,  1866.  Educated  at  Will- 
iam and  Mary  College;  studied  law- 
entered  army,  1808;  served  with  dis- 
tinction in  War  of  1812;  major-general, 
U.  S.  A.  ;  commanded  federal  troops  at 
Charleston,  1832-3;  commander-in-chief 
U.  S.  A.,  1841  ;  led  victorious  invasion  of 
Mexico,  1847  ;  unsuccessful  Whig  candi- 
date for  the  presidency,  1852;  retired, 
October,  1861. 


290  The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Treaty  of 
Guadalupe 
Hidalgo,  1848. 


The  new  terri- 
tory and 
slavery. 


The  Wilmot 
proviso. 


dered  New  Mexico  and  California,  thus  losing  a  full  half 
of  their  national  area.  The  United  States,  on  the  other 
hand,  assumed  the  unpaid  claims  of  American  citizens, 
some  $2,500,000,  and  also  paid  $15,000,000  for  the 
ceded  territory — for  California  and  New  Mexico  were 
' '  bought. ' ' 

The  land  thus  added  to  the  republic  was  an  imperial 
domain,  second  only  in  extent  to  the  purchase  of  1803. 


And,  like  that  French  purchase,  this  new  acquisition  again 
precipitated  a  dispute  as  to  slavery.  The  Compromise 
of  1820  related  only  to  the  territory  bought  of  France. 
Florida,  like  Louisiana,  held  slaves  when  it  was  pur- 
chased, and  so,  as  a  matter  of  course,  became  a  slave 
state.  But  within  the  limits  of  the  Mexican  Republic 
slavery  did  not  exist,  and  so  California  and  New  Mexico 
were  free  territory.      Should  slavery  be  introduced  ? 

In  1846  President  Polk  had  asked  for  an  appropriation 
of  $2,000,000  in  order  to  "negotiate"  with  Mexico.  Of 
course  this  meant  California,  but  the  bill  for  that  pur- 


The   Compromise  of  18^0. 


291 


pose  was  amended  in  the  House,  on  motion  of  Wilmot, 
of  Pennsylvania,  with  a  proviso  prohibiting  slavery 
within  any  territory  to  be  acquired.  This  was  a  repe- 
tition of  the  Tallmadge  proviso  of  1818.  The  bill  failed 
to  pass. 

Eighteen  hundred  forty-eight  was  the  year  of  a  pres- 
idential election.  The  Democrats  nominated  Lewis 
Cass,  of  Michigan,  and  the  Whigs  again  tried  an  "old 
hero"  in  the  person  of  General  Zachary  Taylor.  His 
military  renown 
and  the  popular 
disgust  with  the 
war  were  relied 
on  for  victory. 
Again,  as  in  1840, 
the  Whigs  made 
no  platform  at  all. 

The  Free  Soil- 
ers  were  dissatis- 
fied with  both 
tickets.  Accord- 
ingly they  com- 
bined with  a  se- 
ceding portion 
from  each  nation- 
al convention, 
and  adopted  a 
platform  which 
demanded  that 
there  should  be 
no  more  slave 
states  and  no  more  compromises  with  slavery.  Ex-presi- 
dent Martin  Van  Buren  was  their  candidate.  And  again 
it  was  the  Free  Soil  party  that  decided  the  result.     They 


Zachary  Taylor. 
Born,  1784;  died,  1850.  Entered  United  States  army, 
1808;  served  against  the  Indians  during  the  War 
of  1812;  served  in  Black  Haw^k  War;  won  brilliant 
reputation  in  Mexican  War ;  president  of  the  United 
States,  1849-50. 


Taylor  nomi- 
nated for  presi- 
dent by  the 
Whigs. 


The  Free  Soil 
convention. 


292  The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


A  second  Whig 
president. 

Gold  dis- 
covered, Janu- 
ary, 1848. 


Sudden  settle- 
ment of  Cali- 
fornia. 


Andrews,  II. 
31-2. 


California  ap- 
plies for 
admission. 


Claims  of  the 
South. 


defeated  Clay  in  1844.  And  now  they  defeated  Cass  in 
1848.     Taylor  was  elected. 

Meanwhile  all  the  calculations  of  the  politicians  about 
the  new  territory  were  upset  by  the  discovery  of  gold  in 
California.  This  great  event  was  not  known  when  the  treaty 
with  Mexico  was  signed.  But  no  sooner  was  the  rumor 
spread  abroad  than  at  once  there  began  a  rush  to  the  new 
El  Dorado.  People  of  every  clime  poured  into  Califor- 
nia, all  intent  on  sudden  fortune.  Sleepy  Spanish  settle- 
ments suddenly  became  cities.  The  erstwhile  silent 
port  of  San  Francisco  swarmed  with  shipping.  The 
new  population  was  a  strange  motley  of  saints  and 
sinners,  cultured  gentlemen,  shrewd  business  men, 
and  swaggering  black-legs.  Order  at  first  was  main- 
tained by  the  ready  rifle  and  the  bowie  knife.  But  soon 
the  Anglo-Saxon  instinct  for  government  asserted  itself, 
and  law  took  the  place  of  disorder.  There  were  per- 
haps 15,000  people  in  California  when  the  war  with  Mex- 
ico began.  In  1850  there  were  over  90,000.  And  the 
production  of  gold  was  enormous.  "According  to  care- 
ful estimates  the  gold  yield  of  the  United  States,  mostly 
from  California,  which  had  been  only  $890,000  in  1847, 
increased  to  $10,000,000  in  1848,  to  $40, 000, 000  in  1849, 
to  $50,000,000  in  1850,  to  $55,000,000  in  1851,  and  in 
1853  to  $65,000,000." 

This  new  population  of  California  was  mostly  from  the 
free  states.  And  in  1849  they  adopted  a  constitution 
prohibiting  slavery,  and  applied  for  admission  to  the 
Union. 

But  now  came  trouble.  The  southern  leaders,  who 
had  schemed  for  an  addition  to  slave  territory,  saw 
the  fairest  portion  of  it  slipping  from  their  grasp.  They 
demanded  that  they  should  be  free  to  take  their  slaves 
into  all  the  new  territory,  or  else,  as  a  compromise,  that 


The  Compromise  of  18^0. 


293 


the  Missouri  line  of  36°  30'  should  be  extended  to  the 
Pacific.  Again,  as  in  18 18-21,  a  furious  quarrel  raged 
in  Congress.  Again  threats  of  secession  were  freely 
made.  This  did  not  disturb  Zachary  Taylor.  He  had 
the  spirit  of  "  Old  Hickory,"  and  was  quite  ready  to 
meet  force  with 
force.  But  the 
Whigs  did  not 
stand  by  the  presi- 
dent. Many  went 
with  the  South. 
Then  Henry  Clay, 
in  his  old  age  true 
to  his  passionate  de- 
votion to  the  Union, 
proposed  a  compro- 
mise. And  at  last 
Webster  broke  si- 
lence in  a  powerful 
speech  advocating 
concession  to  the 
South.  All  this  the 
president  stoutly  op- 
posed. His  plan 
was  to  leave  the 
whole  matter  to  the 
people  concerned — 
July,  1850,  the  second  Whig  president  died  in  office. 
The  vice-president,  Fillmore,  reversed  his  predecessor's 
policy.  And  Clay's  measures  became  law.  Califor- 
nia was  admitted  as  a  free  state,  New  Mexico  and  Utah 
Territories  were  organized  without  mention  of  slavery, 
Texas  was  paid  $10,000,000  for  giving  up  its  shadowy 
claim  to  a  large  part  of  New   Mexico,  the   slave   trade 


Born,   1800 


Congress, 


Millard  Fillmore. 
died,   1874.      Lawyer; 


member   ot 
'833-5,  1837-43  ;  vice-president  of  the 
United  States,  1849-50  ;  president,  succeeding  at 
the  death  of  President  Taylor,  1850-3. 


which    meant    free    soil.       But    in 


The  Whigs  did 
not  support  the 
president. 


Webster's  7th  of 
March  speech. 


Death  of  Tay- 
lor, 1850. 


294  ^^^^   Growth  of  the  Americayi  Natio7i. 


The  compro- 
mise passes. 


The  Compro- 
mise of  1850  " 
finality." 


was  forbidden  in  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  a  new  and 
drastic  Fugitive  Slave  Law  was  enacted. 

Thus  was  adopted  the  great  Compromise  of  1850. 
While  it  shocked  free  soil  Whigs  by  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Act,  yet  on  the  whole  the  masses  North  and  South  were 
satisfied.  The  country  was  then  abounding  in  prosper- 
ity. People  were  absorbed  in  business  and  were  utterly 
tired  of  the  whole  slave  question.  In  the  North  it  was 
felt  that  there  was  really  little  fear  of  any  more  slave 
states,  and  that  the  whole  subject  ought  to  drop.  In 
January,  1851,  Clay  headed  a  written  agreement  never 
to  support  for  office  any  man  known  to  favor  a  renewal 
of  the  slavery  agitation.  The  Compromise  of  1850  was  to 
be  final. 


An  Emigrant  Wagon. 
From  Philadelphia  to  Pittsburg,  twenty  days." 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE    REPEAL    OF    THE    MISSOURI    COMPROMISE. 

References. — As  in  Chapter  XXI. 

The  decade  which  followed  the  meridian  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  was  full  of  a  vigorous  and  varied  life  in  character  of  the 
the  United  States.  The  population  had  rolled  up  to  ^  ^^^  ^'  ^  ^ 
twenty-three  millions.  The  area  of  the  republic  had 
been  enormously  extended  In  the  Southwest  and  its 
boundary  had  at  last  been  settled  in  the  Northwest,  so 
that  now  there  was  a  long  Pacific  coast  looking  toward 
China  and  Japan.  Manufactures  and  commerce  had  fol- 
lowed the  widening  of  agriculture,  and  the  volume  of 
business  was  such  that  the  young  republic  was  an 
essential  factor  in  the  world's  system  of  exchanges.  In 
New  England  and  the  Middle  States  manufacturing,  so 
feeble  when  Washington  was  inaugurated,  had  become  a 
giant  industry.  The  Northwest  was  mainly  agricultural, 
and  in  the  South  cotton  was  still  king.  The  crop  of 
1850  was  estimated  to  be  worth  $105,000,000,  and  wealth 
was  rapidly  increasing  on  the  cotton  plantations.  Ameri-  ^^^^^j^^^^ 
can  shipping  had  taken  on  a  new  life  after  the  depression  shipping, 
caused  by  the  War  of  181 2,  and  had  grown  to  great  pro- 
portions. The  American  flag  was  seen  on  every  sea, 
and  American-built  clipper  ships  were  the  wonders  of  the 
ocean  for  speed  and  skill  of  navigation.  These  were 
wooden  ships,  and  were  propelled  wholly  by  the  wand. 
The  application  of  steam  to  ocean  navigation  was  not 
made  for  some  years  after  it  had  become  well  established 
on  the  rivers  and  lakes.      It  was   in    1807  that  Fulton's 

295 


296  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 

boat  successfully  made  the  trip  from  New  York  to  Al- 
steamboats.  bany.  luiSii  the  first  steamer  was  put  on  the  Ohio, 
and  in  18 19  on  the  Great  Lakes.  But  as  late  as  183^5 
Dr.  Lardner  voiced  the  general  sentiment  of  his  day  in 
predicting  that  a  transatlantic  passage  could  never  be 
made  depending  on  steam  alone.  Two  years  later  two 
vessels,    the    Sirius   and    the    Great    Western,    relying 


A  Modern  Ocean  Steamer. 


1839. 


solely  on  steam-power,  succeeded  in  crossing  the  At- 
lantic, and  the  next  year  Samuel  Cunard  made  the  begin- 
ning of  the  great  fleets  of  Atlantic  greyhounds  by  estab- 
lishing the  line  which  is  yet  known  by  his  name.  He  re- 
ceived generous  assistance  from  the  British  government, 
without  which  the  marked  success  of  the  new  undertaking 
would  hardly  have  been  possible.  After  the  failure  of 
several  companies  which  had  tried  in  vain  to  compete 


The  Repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.       297 

with  the  subsidized  Cunarders,  the  American  Congress 
followed  the  same  policy  by  making  a  mail  contract  with 
the  new  Collins  Line,  whose  first  steamers  becran  to  ply  Jh^  Coiiins 

^  i^  J     Line. 

between  New  York  and  Liverpool  in  1 850.  But  bad  man- 
agement and  bad  fortune  made  this  undertaking  a  failure. 
In  fact,  while  America  could  easily  compete  with  Great 
Britain  on  even  terms  in  constructing  wooden  ships  pro- 
pelled by  wind,  when  it  came  to  building  steamers  and 
especially  to  making  them  of  iron,  Britain  had  the  ad- 
vantage, and  so  even  before  1861  our  superiority  in  the 
merchant  marine  was  slipping  away  from  us. 

But  the  improvements  in  land  transportation  were  even  Railroads 
greater  than  in  water.  In  1830  the  first  steam  rail- 
road on  any  considerable  scale  was  opened  in  England, 
and  the  example  was  at  once  followed  in  this  country. 
The  first  lines  were  very  short,  intended  for  some  local 
use.  But  by  1840  there  were  2,775  miles  of  railways  in 
the  United  States.  A  traveler  could  then  go  from  Bos- 
ton to  Rochester  by  rail,  changing  cars,  however,  about 
ten  times.  In  1850  the  mileage  of  railways  had  increased 
to  nearly  9,000,  and  their  building  then  went  on  apace, 
about  20,000  miles  being  added  by  i860. 

The  economic  effect   of  the   application  of  steam  to   -p^e  economic 
transportation  has  been  a  transformation  of  the  world,    ^^^^^s- 
and  nowhere  has  this  social  revolution  been  more  marked 
than  in  the  United  States.     All  that  was  done  by  canals 
and  steamboats  in  the  decades  just  following  the  War  of  . 
1 8 1 2  was  done  on  a  vastly  larger  scale  by  steamboats  and 
railroads  in  the  decades  just  preceding  the  Civil  War. 
The  wild   land  of  the  West  was   settled  with   marvel- 
ous rapidity.     The  market  was  brought  near  the  settler, 
so  that  his  corn  and  cattle  and  cotton  were  easily  trans- 
muted to  cash.     Thus  in  the  ten  years  after  the  Com- 
promise Acts  of  1850  the  republic  showed  an  expansion 


298 


The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation, 


The  electric 
telegraph. 


The  ocean 
cable. 


in  every  element  of  national  progress.  The  population, 
twenty-three  millions  in  1850,  was  over  thirty-one  mil- 
lions in  i860,  and  growth  in  population  was  a  fair  index 
of  growth  in  wealth. 

Another  valuable  servant  of  advancing  civilization  is 
electricity.  The  first  of  its  many  applications  to  human 
need  was  made  in  1844.  Morse,  the  inventor  of  the 
electric  telegraph,  secured  an  appropriation  of  $30,000 
from  Congress,  and  with  these  funds  ran  a  wire  from 
Washington  to  Baltimore.  The  first  practical  use  of  the 
new  device  was  to  report  the  proceedings  of  the  Whig 
National  Convention  which  nominated  Henry  Clay  for 
president.  Construction  was  then  prosecuted  with  great 
activity,  and  in  1856  the  various  lines  were  united  as  the 
Western  Union  Telegraph  Company.    In  1858  a  cable  on 


Copyright,  189J,  by  A.  P.  Yates,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

The  "De  Witt  Clinton"  Engine  and  Coaches. 

The  first  steam  railroad  train  in  the  state  of  New  York,  run  on  the  New  York 

Central  Railroad  between  Albany  and  Schenectady,  August  9,  1831. 


Results. 


the  ocean-bed  enabled  messages  to  fly  from  the  Old 
World  to  the  New.  This  invention  has  greatly  acceler- 
ated the  advance  of  modern  progress.  Rapid  commu- 
nication of  intelligence  is  quite  as  important  as  rapid  trans- 


The  Repeal  of  the  Missouri  Comproinise.        299 

portation  of  persons  and  property.  Commercial  methods, 
now  that  all  the  world  jogs  elbows,  are  very  different 
from  what  they  were  in  the  slow  old  days  when  it  took  a 
year  to  hear  from  India.  The  modern  newspaper,  which 
contains  each  day  a  history  of  the  world  for  the  preced- 
ing twenty-four  hours,  has  become  possible.  And  the 
railroads  themselves  are  run  by  telegraph,  without  which 
they  could  not  have  reached  their  present  high  state  of 
efficiency. 

But  railroads  and  telegraphs  were  not  the  only  triumphs 
of  the  fifth  and  sixth  decades  of  the  century.  Other  in- 
ventions were  multiplying  human  power  on  all  sides. 
Two  notable  ones  were  the  sewing  machine  and  the 
mowing  machine. 

When  Elias  Howe  in  1846  took  out  his  patent  for  a 
machine  to  do  sewing,  it  seemed  as  if  women  at  last  The  sewing 
were  really  to  be  emancipated  from  their  main  drudgery. 
It  has  turned  out  differently,  however.  Instead  of  lessen- 
ing work,  the  machine  has  multiplied  the  possible  num- 
ber of  frills  on  a  woman's  garment.  Still,  its  industrial 
effects  in  other  ways  have  been  quite  as  marked  as  have 
been  those  of  the  railroad  and  the  telegraph.  And  by 
use  of  the  mower  and  reaper  farming  on  a  large  scale  is 
now  as  easy  as  in  the  old  days  was  the  care  of  a  few  machine, 
acres  of  meadow  and  grain  field. 

These  are  only  examples  of  the  many  American  inven-   ^^  ^^^  ^^ 
tions  which  in  a  thousand  ways  have  multiplied  human 
control  over  natural  forces.      It  has  been  an  age  of  in- 
vention. 

The  act  of  1834  regulating  the  currency  had  the  effect 
of  reversing  the  relation  of  gold  and  silver.  Before  that 
date,  under  the  ratio  of  fifteen  to  one,  gold  had  been 
undervalued,  and  accordingly  had  disappeared  from  the 
circulation.     But  the  new  ratio  of  sixteen  to  one  over- 


The  mowing 


inventions. 


300  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Coinage  Act  of 

1853. 


Seep.  113. 


valued  gold,  and  so  in  turn  the  silver  coinage  either  left 
the  country  or  went  to  the  melting  pot.  The  result  was 
that  gold  coin  was  in  general  use  almost  to  the  en- 
tire exclusion  of  silver.  This  fact  in  itself  gave  little 
dissatisfaction,  but  incidentally  a  great  inconvenience 
was  felt  in  the  lack  of  small  change.  By  the  mint  law  of 
1792  the  weight  of  pure  silver  in  two  half  dollars  or  four 


Copyright,  189T,  by  A.  P.  Yates,  Syracuse,  N.  Y. 

The  Fastest  Regular  Train  in  the  World,  1891. 

Empire  State  Express  of  the  New  York  Central  and  Hudson  River  Railroad. 

Reproduced  from  a  photograph  taken  when  running  sixty  miles  an  hour. 

quarters  was  just  the  same  as  in  a  silver  dollar.  Hence, 
when  the  silver  dollars  became  scarce  the  fractional  coins 
had  the  same  fate.  In  1853  Congress  remedied  the 
difficulty  by  making  the  weight  of  pure  silver  in  two  half 
dollars  or  in  four  quarters  345.6  grains  instead  of  371.25 
grains,  as  had  been  the  case  before.  These  subsidiary 
coins  were  made  legal  tender  for  an  amount  not  to  ex- 
ceed five  dollars,  and  the  privilege  of  free  coinage  was 
withdrawn.     By  these  provisions  it  was  no  longer  profit- 


The  Repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.       301 

able  to  melt  down  small  silver  into  bullion  or  to  export 
it,  and  at  the  same  time  the  danger  of  an  over-abundancy 
of  the  debased  coins  was  avoided.  The  subsidiary  coinage 
became  a  mere  ' '  token  ' '  currency,  as  is  usual  among  ad- 
vanced nations. 

The  expansion  of  the  republic  had  brought  into  the  Admission  of 
Union  a  series  of  new  states.  As  the  territories  filled  "^^  states, 
with  people  they  were  one  after  another  organized 
on  the  model  of  the  existing  states,  and  were  duly  ad- 
mitted by  act  of  Congress.  Arkansas  came  into  the  Union 
in  1836,  Michigan  in  1837,  Florida  and  Texas  in  1845, 
Iowa  in  1846,  Wisconsin  in  1848,  California  in  1850. 
The  decade  before  the  Civil  War  was  closed  with  Min- 
nesota in  1858  and  Oregon  in  1859. 

With  the  minds  of  the  people  thus  absorbed  in  their 
abounding  material  prosperity,  with  the  incessant  an- 
nouncement of  new  inventions  tending  to  make  human 
industry  more  efficient,  with  time  and  space  and  inert 
matter  yielding  on  all  sides  to  the  brain  and  energy  of 
the  progressive  American,  it  is  no  cause  for  wonder  that 
the  masses  were  inclined  to  take  the  Compromise  Act  of  ^,    ^ 

^  The  Compro- 

1850  as  a  finality,  and  hence  to  dismiss  the  whole  slavery  ^ise  of  1850  a 
agitation  from  their  thoughts.  To  be  sure,  the  new  Fugi- 
tive Slave  Law  was  very  irritating  to  the  free  states,  and 
there  was  sullen  discontent  in  the  South  at  the  poor 
prospect  of  more  slave  states.  But  apparently  the  con- 
troversy was  closed.  The  national  political  conventions 
of  1852  both  adopted  emphatic  resolutions  to  that  efiect. 
The  Whigs  continued  the  policy  of  nominating  a  mill-  Election  of  1852. 
tary  hero,  which  they  had  found  so  successful  in  1840 
and  in  1848,  this  time  choosing  General  Winfield  Scott. 
But  the  Whig  party  was  already  dead,  although  its  lead- 
ers were  apparently  unaware  of  it.  Northern  free  soil 
Whigs  were  finally  alienated  by  the  obnoxious  Fugitive 


302  The   Growth  of  the  Ameincan  Nation. 


End  of  the 
Whig  party. 


The  Kansas- 
Nebraska  Act> 
1854. 


Slave  Law.  Southern  Whigs  felt  that  the  interests  of 
slavery  were  safer  in  the  hands  of  the  Democratic  party. 
And  so  Scott  was  overwhelmingly  defeated,  and  that  by 
a  candidate  of  so  little  significance  as  Franklin  Pierce, 
of  New  Hampshire.  Scott  carried  only  four  states. 
Henry  Clay  died  just  as  the  canvass  was  opened,  and 
Webster  followed  him  to  the  grave  a  few  days  before  the 

election.  The  death 
of  the  great  leaders 
was  only  a  prelude 
to  the  death  of  the 
great  party. 

The  slavery  ques- 
tion in  fact  was  not 
settled.  And  it  was 
so  sectional  in  its 
character  that  of 
necessity  it  cut 
through  the  na- 
tional parties.  It 
destroyed  the  Whig 
party  in  1852.  It 
disrupted  the 
Democratic  party 
in  i860.  And  na- 
tional political  par- 
ti es  again  came 
into  existence  only 
when  African  slavery  and  its  incidents  finally  disappeared. 
In  the  first  Congress  under  President  Pierce  the  slavery 
agitation,  which  in  1850  had  once  for  all  been  put  aside 
by  the  action  of  both  the  great  parties,  was  renewed  by 
the  action  of  the  leaders  of  each  of  them.  Stephen  A. 
Douglas,   of  Illinois,  was  the  Democratic  chairman   of 


Franklin  Pierce. 

Born,  1804;  died,  1869.  Graduated  at  Bowdoin 
College;  lawyer;  member  of  Congress,  1833-7; 
United  States  senator,  1837-42  ;  brigadier- 
general  in  Mexican  War ;  president  of  the 
United  States,  1853-7. 


The  Repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise.        303 


the  Senate  committee  on  territories.  And  at  the  first 
session  of  Franklin  Pierce's  first  Congress  Douglas 
brought  in  a  bill  for  the  organization  of  the  territories  of 
Kansas  and  Nebraska.  Both  these  lay  north  of  the  Mis- 
souri Compromise  line.  But  the  bill  proceeded  ex- 
pressly to  declare  that  compromise   inoperative,  and  to   Repeal  0/ the 

^  J  ^  ^  .        .  Missouri 

leave  the  question  of  slavery  in  the  new  territories  and   Compromise, 
in  the  states  to  be  formed  from  them  ' '  to  the  inhabitants 
thereof ' '     This  was  what  Douglas  called  ' '  popular  sov- 
ereignty. ' ' 

The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  was  at  once 
followed  by  a  rush  for  Kansas  on  the  part  of  the  antago-  fo""  Kansas, 
nistic  sections.  The  people  of  Missouri,  being  near  at 
hand,  made  the  first  settlements,  but  they  were  soon 
followed  by  a  tide  of  free  state  immigrants.  The  south- 
ern settlers  seized  the  government  of  the  new  territory, 
and  were  sustained  by  the  national  administration.  The 
free  state  men  claimed  that  their  adversaries  had  tri- 
umphed only  by  fraud,  and  refused  to  recognize  the  ter- 
ritorial legislature  as  valid.  There  followed  several  years 
of  lawlessness  and  violence.  But  at  last  the  free  state 
settlers  became  so  numerous  that  they  could  not  be  kept 
from  controlling  the  territory,  and  in  1861  Kansas  was 
admitted  to  the  Union  as  a  free  state.  The  experiment 
of  ' '  popular  sovereignty  ' '  was  disastrous  for  slavery. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 


SECESSION    AND    CIVIL    WAR. 


Election  of  1856. 


References. — As  in  Chapter  XXI. 

After  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  in  1854, 
the  free  soil  sentiment  in  the  North  woke  to  vigorous 
life.     Democrats  who  reprobated  the  Kansas-Nebraska 

Act  joined  with  the 
great  body  of  Whigs 
in  endeavoring  to 
sweep  from  power 
the  pro-slavery  gov- 
ernment in  state  and 
nation.  The  new 
coalition  in  1854 
took  the  name  ''Re- 
publican, ' '  and  at 
the  fall  elections  the 
Democrats  lost  the 
House  of  Represen- 
tatives. In  1856  the 
opposition  was  not 
yet  united.  The 
Republicans  nomi- 
nated for  president 
Fremont,  the  son- 
in-law  of  Thomas 
H.  Benton.  But  the 
democracy,  though  it  lost  its  hold  on  many  important 
states,  was  too  strong  to  be  dislodged.     The  Republi- 

304 


James  Buchanan. 
Born,  1791 ;  died,  1868.  Lawyer;  member  of 
Congress,  1821-31 ;  minister  to  Russia,  1831-3; 
United  States  senator,  1834-45;  secretary  of 
state,  1845-9;  minister  to  England,  1853-6; 
president  of  the  United  States,  1857-61. 


Secession  and  Civil   War. 


305 


cans,  however,  polled  over  a  million  and  a  quarter  votes, 
and  the  popular  vote  for  the  Democratic  candidate, 
Buchanan,  was  a  minority — a  third  ticket  winning  many 
votes. 

It  had  been  urged  in  1854  that  the  restriction  laid  by  the 
Missouri  Com- 
promise was  un- 
constitutional. A 
case  was  at  that 
time  pending  be- 
fore the  federal 
Supreme  Court 
which  the  judges 
made  the  occa- 
sion of  formally 
pronouncing  an 
opinion  on  the 
disputed  political 
question.  Dred 
Scott  was  a 
negro,  the  slave 
of  a  surgeon  in 
tTie  United  States 
army.  He  had 
been  held  by  his 
master  in  the 
state  of  Illinois, 
and  afterwards  at 
of  the  Mississippi 
taken   to  Missouri 


The  Dred  Scott 

case. 


Fort    Snelling,    on 

near     St.     Paul, 
and   sold  in    1838, 


the  west  side 
Being  thence 
Dred  sued  for 
his  freedom  on  the  ground  that  residing  in  free  ter- 
ritory had  made  him  free.  The  case  was  decided  by 
the  Supreme  Court  on  the  6th  of  March,  1857.  The 
court  held  that  Dred  had  no  case,  as  he  was  a  negro 


Decision  of 
Supreme  Court. 


3o6  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


The  tariff  of 

1857. 


The  panic  of 

1857- 


Political  cam- 
paign of  i860. 


slave,  and  hence  not  a  citizen  of  the  United  States  in  the 
sense  of  the  constitution.  Of  course  that  ended  the 
case.  But  the  court  then  went  on,  quite  extra -judicially, 
to  declare  further  that  an  act  of  Congress  prohibiting 
slavery  in  a  given  portion  of  the  federal  territory  was 
unconstitutional  and  void,  and  that  there  was  no  legal 
authority  which  could  prevent  a  master  from  taking  his 
slave  to  a  territory  and  holding  him  there.  In  other 
words,  the  court  held  that  slavery  could  be  forbidden 
only  by  a  state.  Thus  was  the  stamp  of  judicial  approval 
given  to  the  Repeal  Act  of  1854,  so  far,  that  is,  as  an 
obiter  dictum  may  be  said  to  have  judicial  weight. 

The  year  1857  was  marked  by  two  other  events  not 
connected  with  the  ominous  slavery  dispute.  In  the 
last  month  of  Pierce's  administration  was  enacted  an- 
other tariff  bill,  intended  to  reduce  revenue.  It  added 
considerably  to  the  free  list  and  somewhat  reduced  rates. 
Still,  the  bill  was  a  compromise  between  a  low  tariff  Sen- 
ate and  a  high  tariff  House,  and  it  contained  some  feat- 
ures of  protection.  In  the  autumn  came  a  new  financial 
panic.  It  was  largely  the  result  of  over-speculation — 
too  many  railroads,  too  many  new  cities  projected  in  the 
West,  too  much  debt  piled  up  at  a  large  interest  in  the 
hope  of  vast  returns.  And  the  lack  of  a  safe  bank  cur- 
rency good  in  all  parts  of  the  Union  was  acutely  felt.  A 
swarm  of  mushroom  state  banks  issued  paper,  which  in 
many  cases  was  never  meant  to  be  redeemed — and  coun- 
terfeits were  afloat  everywhere. 

The  political  conventions  of  i860  met  while  pubHc 
feeling  was  at  a  high  tension.  The  Republicans,  disre- 
garding the  obiter  dicta  of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the 
Dred  Scott  case,  and  flushed  with  success  in  winning 
Kansas,  insisted  that  it  was  the  right  as  well  as  the  duty 
of  Congress  to  forbid  slavery  in  the  territories.     And  as 


Secession  and  Civil   War. 


307 


the  Republican  candidates  there  were   named  Abraham 

Lincoln  of  Illinois,  an  old  Whig,  and  Hannibal  Hamlin 

of  Maine,    a  former   Democrat.      The  Whig  party  was 

now   a  mere  reminiscence.       But  a  group   of  excellent 

people,    largely   of  Whig   antecedents,   alarmed  at  the 

threatening  aspect   of  the  times,   nominated  a  ticket  of  An  independent 

their  own,  John   Bell  of  Tennessee  and  Edward  Everett 

of  Massachusetts,  the  platform  being,  * '  The  constitution, 

the  Union,  and  the  enforcement  of  the  laws" — whatever 


Democrats  fail 


Executive  Mansion  (White  House),  Washington,  D.  C. 

that  might  mean.  The  Democratic  convention  at 
Charleston  failed  to  agree  on  a  platform.  The  radical  to  agree. 
pro-slavery  wing  insisted  on  declaring  it  the  duty  of 
Congress  to  protect  slave  property  in  the  territories, 
while  the  followers  of  Douglas  in  the  North  would  merely 
indorse  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  The  extreme  southern 
delegates  then  withdrew,  and  set  up  a  convention  of 
their  own.      Both  bodies  were  adjourned  to  a  later  date. 


3o8  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nati07i. 


Principles  at 
issue. 


The  Breckin- 
ridg^e  Demo- 
crats. 


The  Republi- 
cans. 


Election  of 
Lincoln. 


But  they  could  not  agree,  and  two  nominations  resulted. 
Douglas  was  the  candidate  of  one  faction,  and  John  C. 
Breckinridge  of  Kentucky,  the  vice-president  with  Bu- 
chanan, was  named  by  the  other. 

The  campaign  of  i860  was  one  of  the  most  earnest 
and  exciting  in  our  history — far  more  so  than  the  national 
frolic  of  1840.  In  '60  men  were  divided  on  profound 
questions  of  principle.  The  southern  people  believed  that 
their  constitutional  rights  and  essential  social  institutions 
were  in  peril.  They  believed  that  they  had  a  right  to 
take  their  property,  slaves  included,  into  the  territories 
which  belonged  to  the  whole  Union,  and  there  to  be  pro- 
tected by  the  national  authority.  They  were  convinced 
that  unless  slavery  could  retain  its  political  balance  in 
the  federal  government  the  institution  was  doomed.  And 
they  had  no  faith  that  the  rising  party  of  free  soil,  the 
Republicans,  would  in  the  end  refrain  from  attempting  to 
abolish  slavery  in  the  states. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Republicans  insisted  only  that 
no  more  national  territory  should  be  made  into  slave 
states.  They  believed  slavery  an  economic  mistake  and 
a  moral  wrong.  But  they  frankly  recognized  the  con- 
stitutional limits  on  federal  action,  and  merely  hoped 
that  if  the  institution  should  cease  to  grow  it  would 
gradually  die  out. 

The  division  in  the  Democratic  party  was  fatal  to  its 
success,  and  Lincoln  was  elected.  His  popular  vote 
was  1,865,913,  as  against  1,341,264  for  Fremont  in 
1856.  True,  the  popular  vote  for  Lincoln  was  a  minor- 
ity. But  so  was  that  for  Buchanan  in  1856,  for  Taylor 
in  1848,  and  for  Polk  in  1844.  But  for  the  first  time  a 
president  was  elected  on  a  distinct  sectional  issue  as  be- 
tween slave  states  and  free  states,  and  by  a  sectional 
vote.     Lincoln  carried  every  free  state.     The  slave  states 


Sec€ssio7i  and  Civil    War. 


309 


were  divided  among  the  other  candidates — Douglas  car- 
rying Missouri,  Bell  Virginia,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee, 
and  Breckinridge  the  rest.  Douglas  secured  three 
electoral  votes  in  New  Jersey. 

And  as  soon  as  the  result  was  ascertained  South  Caro- 
lina took  measures 
to  secede  from  the 
Union.  Her  con- 
vention ,  duly 
elected  for  the  pur- 
pose, on  the  20th 
of  December  for- 
mally repealed  the 
Ordinance  of  1788 
whereby  the  federal 
constitution  was  rat- 
ified. And  four  days 
later  the  fiery  little 
state  promulgated  a 
declaration  of  inde- 
pendence. 

This  was  the  first 
act  in  the  great 
drama  of  civil  war. 
It  was  taken  with 
joyous  enthusiasm 
— greeted  in  sister 
states  with  firing  of 
cannon  and  ringing 
of  bells.  But  in  fact  it  ushered  in  not  the  founding  of  a 
great  southern  empire  which  should  girdle  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  with  its  dominions  and  should  rule  the  world 
with  its  staple.  It  w^as  the  beginning  of  woes  for  the 
South  and  for  the  nation.     It  meant  four  years  of  bloody 


Born 

1828 


Jefferson  Davis. 
808;  died,  1889.  Graduated  at  West  Point, 
resigned  from  army,  1835  ;  married  the 
daughter  of  Zachary  Tavlor  ;  member  of  Con- 
gress, 1845-6;  colonel,  Mississippi  volunteers, 
in  Mexican  War  ;  United  States  senator,  1847-51 
and  1857-61  ;  secretary  of  war,  1853-7 ;  presi- 
dent of  Confederate  States,  1861-5. 


Secession. 


Its  real  mean- 
ing. 


3IO  The  Growth  of  the  ATnerican  Nation. 


Results  of  the 
action  at 
Sumter. 


Attitude  of  the 
North. 


war.  It  meant  the  fall  of  slavery  itself,  the  destruction 
of  southern  prosperity,  the  sacrifice  of  more  than  half  a 
million  lives.  And  it  meant  the  utter  and  ruinous  fail- 
ure of  the  brilliant  schemes  and  dreams  of  the  secession 
leaders. 

The  shot  which  in  the  early  morning  of  April  12,  1861, 
was  fired  at  Fort  Sumter  was  the  signal  gun  of  a  new 
epoch  in  the  national  life.  It  reduced  to  a  single  sharp 
issue — the  preservation  of  the  Union  and  the  supremacy 
of  the  constitution — all  the  tangle  of  disputes  for  which 
slavery  was  responsible.  In  its  issue  it  settled  the  Cal- 
houn doctrine  of  state  rights  as  embodied  in  nullifica- 
tion and  secession — it  put  an  end  to  the  uneasy  attempts 
at  still  further  increasing  the  slave  area,  whether  by 
more  "  acquisitions"  from  Mexico,  by  the  annexation 
of  Cuba,  or  by  filibustering  raids  in  Central  America  ; 
it  effected  a  sweeping  industrial  revolution  by  abolishing 
slavery  itself  And  the  reflex  effects  of  the  great  strug- 
gle of  arms  in  deepening  and  strengthening  the  current 
of  national  life  were  equally  marked.  The  first  emotion 
in  the  North  when  it  was  learned  that  the  secessionists 
had  actually  fired  on  the  national  flag  was  that  of  pro- 
found amazement.  Few  had  believed  that  the  Southern 
States  would  really  attempt  a  dissolution  of  the  Union. 
And  few  were  convinced  of  the  danger  even  when  at  the 
opening  of  the  new  year  ordinances  of  secession  fell  like 
the  snowflakes.  The  border  slave  states  tried  to  settle 
the  troubles  in  the  old  way,  by  proposing  a  compromise. 
And  probably  a  majority  of  Republicans  would  have  as- 
sented to  the  proposal  of  a  constitutional  amendment 
forbidding  any  interference  with  slavery  in  the  states. 
But  when  it  was  seen  by  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter  that 
the  new  Southern  Confederacy  was  not  a  mere  political 
curiosity,  but  was  in   deadly  earnest,  then  amazement  in 


Secess707i  and  Civil    War;. 


311 


the  free  states  was  changed  to  deep  wrath.  The  North 
was  effectually  wakened  from  its  lethargy.  Party  lines 
disappeared — Democrats  like  Douglas,  Dix,  and  Dickin- 
son joining  with  Republicans  to  sustain  the  national  gov- 
ernment   in  its  task  of  suppressing   rebellion.      Every- 


The  uprising 
for  the  Union. 


State  Capitol  Building,  Richmond,  Virginia. 


where  flags  blossomed  out,  and  everywhere  volunteers 
began  to  enlist  for  the  national  service.  Washington  itself 
was  in  danger,  and  militia  regiments  from  Massachusetts 
and  New  York  were  hurried  to  its  protection.  And 
from  every  northern  city  and  village  the  Union  soldiers 
began  to  pour  southward. 

In  the  Southern  States  the  effect  was  equally  marked. 
State  pride  and  the  enthusiasm  for  southern  ideas  swept 
all  before  them.  Virginia  and  Tennessee  and  Arkansas 
seceded  and  joined  the  Cotton  State  Confederacy.     Rich- 


The  uprising; 
for  secession. 


The  "solid 
South." 


"  Blood  and 
iron." 


3 1 2  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 

mond  became  the  capital,  and  the  Confederate  armies 
were  ahnost  in  sight  of  Washington.  Union  sentiment 
disappeared  in  the  South,  as  had  southern  sympathy  in 
the  North.     It  was  the  soHd    South  against   the  solid 


North,  and  only  by   ''  blood  and  iron  "    could   the  issue 
be  determined. 

The  war  at  first  was  confused  and  uncertain.      No  one 
yet  realized  its  magnitude.     President  Lincoln's  first  call 


Secession  and  Civil    War.  313 


for  troops  was  for  75,000  men  for  three  months.     And 

in  hig^h  places  it  was  actually  thought  that  the  insurrec-   ^''"^^  '^^^^  as 

^      ^  ...  the  war  opened. 

tion  would  collapse  within  that  time.  On  the  other 
hand,  there  was  in  the  South  a  prevalent  contempt  for 
the  "Yankees" — as  it  was  boastfully  said,  they  "would 
back  up  against  the  north  pole  before  they  would  fight. ' ' 
Both  ideas  proved  to  be  far  wide  of  the  truth.  The 
South  was  deeply  in  earnest,  and  developed  magnificent 
armies  and  most  determined  endurance.  The  Yankees 
began  to  fight  without  even  starting  for  the  north  pole, 
and  they  fought  doggedly  on  until  in  the  end  they  won 
a  complete  and  crushing  victory.  Before  the  four  years 
of  warfare  were  ended  each  side  had  learned  not  to  de- 
spise its  adversary. 

It  is  not  our  purpose  here  to  detail  the  military  history  ^^^  ^.j^jj  ^^j. 
of  the  Civil  War.  It  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most 
tremendous  struggles  of  history.  The  federal  govern- 
ment had  the  great  advantage  of  having  a  manufactur- 
ing and  maritime  population,  and  was  able  to  draw  a 
military  and  naval  cordon  around  the  Confederacy,  cut- 
ting off  its  trade  with  foreign  countries  and  thus  gradu- 
ally paralyzing  its  material  resources.  The  Union  armies 
were  long  foiled  in  Virginia,  commander  after  com- 
mander coming  to  grief  before  the  genius  of  Lee.  In 
the  West,  however.  Grant  and  Sherman  at  last  won 
their  way  to  the  front.  The  line  of  the  Mississippi  was 
opened.  Sherman  cut  his  way  across  Georgia  to  the  sea, 
while  the  army  in  his  rear  was  shattered  by  Thomas  at 
Nashville.  Meanwhile  Grant,  transferred  to  Virginia, 
found  no  light  task.  It  was  only  after  a  year  of  cam- 
paigning that  at  last  he  was  able  to  break  the  Confeder- 
ate Hues  and  compel  the  remnant  of  Lee's  army  to 
surrender.  In  April,  1861,  the  first  shot  was  fired  on 
Fort    Sumter.        In    April,    1865,    the   long   agony    of 


314  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


End  of  the 
Confederacy. 


doubtful  Struggle  ended  with  the  collapse  of  the  Con- 
federacy. Secession  had  failed,  and  the  Union  was  pre- 
served. But  in  the  stress  of  the  strife  slavery  had 
disappeared.  President  Lincoln  in  1863  issued  a  procla- 
mation, wherein  he  used  his  war  powers  to  free  all  slaves 
in  insurgent  territory.      And  immediately  after  the  war 

,yS^>u>u  ^  flrCjCZj  ^m^4^  Arw^  oyt^-^o ^  p^  f%u^/^^^^  ^yt 


Reduced  Facsimile  of  a  Part  of  the  Emancipation  Proclamation. 
(January  i,  1863.) 

Abolition  of        closcd   the  abolitiou  of  human  slavery  was  embodied  in 
saver>.  the  federal  constitution.     The  institution  was  overthrown 

by  the  great  political  enterprise  which  was  intended  to 

preserve  it  forever. 


Summary  of  Pa7't    V.  315 

The  war  of  secession  cost  6*00,000  lives  and  an  incal- 
culable amount  of  property.  Had  all  the  slaves  been  of^fhe"J^ar""^ 
bought  at  their  full  value  in  i860  and  emancipated,  it 
would  have  been  much  cheaper.  But  after  all  it  was  a 
far  more  fundamental  issue  than  slavery  which  the  war 
settled.  The  surrender  of  Lee  was  but  the  peroration 
of  Webster's  reply  to  Hayne  in  1830.  It  was  an  author- 
itative interpretation  of  the  constitution.  And  its  mean- 
ing is  that  this  republic  is  "an  indestructible  union  of 
indestructible  states. ' ' 


SUMMARY    OF    PART    V. 

From  1844  ^^  1865  the  public  question  which  over- 
shadowed all  others  was  that  of  slavery.  Back  of  this, 
however,  was  a  more  fundamental  one — the  question  slavery  and 
whether  the  Union  was  a  temporary  confederacy  of  ^  ^  ^  *^'^ 
states  or  a  permanent  nation.  Slavery  existed  in  all  the 
colonies,  though  it  was  much  more  firmly  established  in 
the  South.  Beginning  at  the  time  of  the  Revolutionary 
War  the  Northern  States  gradually  freed  their  slaves. 
But  the  great  development  of  cotton-raising  in  the 
South,  caused  largely  by  the  invention  of  the  cotton-gin 
in  1793,  fixed  the  institution  more  firmly  in  that  section. 

The  original  public  territory  of  the  United  States  had 
been  divided  between  the  two  forms  of  labor — the 
Northwest  Territory  being  devoted  to  freedom,  and  the 
Southwest  Territory  to  slavery.  In  1803  the  Louisiana  J^rrlti^y^^ 
country  was  bought  of  France,  and  the  state  called  by 
that  name  was  admitted  to  the  Union,  with  slavery,  in 
181 2.  But  when  another  portion  of  this  territory,  Mis- 
souri, desired  to  become  a  state,  an  attempt  was  made 
in  Congress  to  include  in  the  act  of  admission  an  anti- 


31 6  The  Growth  of  the  American  Natio7i. 


The  Missouri 
Compromise, 
1820. 


Texas. 


War  with 
Mexico. 


Compromise  of 
1850. 


Kansas. 


slavery  proviso.  The  dispute  which  resulted  was  settled 
by  the  Missouri  Compromise,  whereby  Missouri  was 
allowed  to  retain  slavery,  but  in  all  the  rest  of  the  terri- 
tory bought  of  France  lying  north  of  the  parallel 
bounding  Missouri  on  the  south  slavery  was  forbidden. 
The  purchase  of  Florida  from  Spain,  in  1821,  added  to 
the  area  of  slavery. 

Texas,  settled  by  American  slaveholders,  revolted 
from  Mexico  and  sought  annexation  to  the  United  States. 
A  treaty  to  that  end  was  rejected  by  the  Senate  in  the 
spring  of  1844.  The  question  was  then  taken  into  poli- 
tics. Van  Buren  and  Clay  were  both  opposed  to  annex- 
ation. Van  Buren  lost  the  Democratic  nomination  on  that 
account,  and  Clay  was  beaten  at  the  polls  by  the  de- 
fection of  free  soil  Whigs,  who  distrusted  his  firmness 
as  to  annexation.  After  the  election  Texas  was  promptly 
annexed.  This  led  to  war  with  Mexico,  which  resulted 
in  the  annexation  of  California  and  New  Mexico, 
thus  affording  room  for  further  extension  of  slave  terri- 
tory. But  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  caused  a 
sudden  rush  of  people  there,  and  they  almost  immedi- 
ately formed  a  state  organization  without  slavery  and 
applied  for  admission  to  the  Union.  This  led  to  another 
bitter  dispute  in  Congress,  which  in  turn  was  settled  by 
the  Compromise  of  1850.  This  was  intended  to  put  an 
end  to  the  slavery  question  forever.  But  it  did  not.  In 
1852  the  Whig  party  fell  to  pieces,  and  one  of  the  first 
acts  of  the  new  Democratic  administration  was  the  law 
organizing  the  territories  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska  and 
repealing  the  Missouri  Compromise.  This  opened  the 
Northwest  to  slavery.  There  was  a  desperate  struggle 
between  the  two  sections  for  the  possession  of  Kansas, 
but  the  free  soil  settlers  in  the  end  prevailed. 

Meanwhile  a  new  political  party  had  been  formed  in 


Summary  of  Part    V. 


317 


The  Republican 
party. 


the  North,  with  the  cardinal  principle  that  slavery  should 
not  be  permitted  in  the  territories.  And  in  i860  this 
party,  owing  to  a  split  in  the  Democratic  convention, 
succeeded  in  electing-  a  president.  Then  the  slave  states 
nearly  all  seceded  from  the  Union  and  formed  a  confed-  Secession 
erate  government  of  their  own.  The  rest  of  the  nation 
took  up  arms  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  and 
there  resulted  a  civil  war  of  vast  proportions.  After 
four  years  of  strife  the  national  cause  triumphed.  The 
Confederacy  was  overthrown,  and  slavery  was  abolished 
throughout  the  nation.  The  Calhoun  theory  of  state 
rights  was  definitely  set  aside.  The  republic  became  in 
fact  what  since  1789  it  had  been  in  form — a  nation. 


Civil  War. 


The  Lee  Mansion,  Arlington,  Virginia. 


PART  VI . 

THE  INDESTRUCTIBLE  UNION  OF  IN- 
DESTRUCTIBLE STATES. 


PART  VI-THE  INDESTRUCTIBLE  UNION  OF 
INDESTRUCTIBLE  STATES. 

CHAPTER    XXV. 

THE  RECONSTRUCTED  REPUBLIC. 

References.— Andrews  ;  Blaine  :  Twe?ity  Years  of  Co7i- 
gress  ;   The  Congressional  Globe. 

The  great  Civil  War  ended  with  the  complete  victory 
of  the  nation.  The  adjudication  of  war  had  decided 
against  the  right  of  secession  and  in  favor  of  the  su- 
premacy of  national  authority.  And  an  amendment  to 
the  constitution,  adopted  in  1865,  put  an  end  to  the 
legal  relation  of  slavery  in  all  the  states. 

But  the  victorious  government  had  before  it  a  serious 
problem.  The  Southern  States  had  been  conquered,  reconstruction. 
What  was  now  to  be  done  with  them  ?  Were  they  to 
be  ruled  as  conquered  territory  ?  Or  were  they  to  be  al- 
lowed to  take  their  places  once  more  in  the  Union  ? 
Either  alternative  was  beset  with  serious  difficulties.  It 
had  been  the  legal  theory  of  the  victorious  party  that 
the  acts  of  secession  were  null  and  void.  If  this  were 
true,  each  of  the  lately  revolted  states  was  still  a  mem- 
ber of  the  federal  Union,  and  entitled  to  its  full  repre- 
sentation in  the  electoral  college  and  in  Congress.  But 
if  this  were  allowed  it  would  restore  those  who  had  just 
been  in  arms  against  the  nation  to  a  position  of  political 
power  and  would  give  them  a  voice  in  shaping  the  re- 
sults of  the  war.     This  was  obviously  out  of  the  ques- 

321 


The  problem  of 


322  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 

tion.     To  disfranchise  the  insurgents  and  allow  the  states 

to  be  organized  by  such  of  their  people  as  were  loyal 

would  have  been  a  desirable  solution.     But  there  were 

Early  attempts.  ^.  ^■■■■■■■■1    hardly    any    such 

people  in  the  South 
unless  the  negroes 
were  considered — 
and  they  were 
hardly  of  the  mate- 
rial for  creating  civil 
institutions.  Still,  it 
was  such  a  solution 
that  was  first  at- 
tempted. The 
mountaineers  of 
West  Virginia  were 
not  in  sympathy 
with  secession,  and 

Andrew  Johnson.  in  1 86 1  they  Set  Up 
Born,  i8o8;  died,  1875.  Member  ot  Congress,  a  State  government 
1843-53  ;  governor  of  Tennessee,  1853-7  ;  United  r  ^  • 
States  senator,  1857-62  ;  military  governor  of  of  their  OWU,  which 
Tennessee,  1862-5;  vice-president,  1865;  presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  succeeding  at  the  waS  duly  reCOgnized 
death  of  President  Lincoln,  1865-9.  -iir      1  • 

at    Washmgton    as 
the  true  state  of  Virginia.     And  in  later  years  of  the 
war  Louisiana,    Arkansas,   and  Tennessee  were   recon- 
structed in  like  manner. 
Death  of  Lin-  President  Lincoln,  who  had  been  reelected  in   1864, 

CO  n,  1865.  j^^^  ^^  vindictive  feeling  toward  the  South,  and  it  was 

his  earnest  desire  as  soon  as  possible  to  heal  the  wounds 
of  the  war  and  to  have  the  Union  restored  in  a  spirit  of 
harmony  and  mutual  concession.  But  the  vast  weight 
of  his  influence  and  of  his  conservative  wisdom  was  lost 
to  the  nation  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin.  Only  a  few 
days  after  Lee's  surrender  a  violent  sympathizer  with  the 


The  Reco7istr2icted  Republic. 


323 


' '  lost  cause ' '  avenged  its  fall  by  the  dastardly  murder 
of  the  president.  And  the  vice-president,  Andrew 
Johnson,  of  Tennessee,  succeeded  to  his  place.  He  was 
a  very  different  man  from  the  great-hearted  and  patient 
Lincoln.  Where  the  latter  might  have  led,  Johnson 
merely  succeeded  in  quarreling.  At  the  outset  the  new 
president  claimed  to  be  following  the  policy  of  his  prede- 
cessor. He  offered  amnesty  to  all  in  the  South,  a  few 
prominent  leaders  excepted,  who  would  take  an  oath  to 
support  the  constitution  of  the  United  States.  He  then 
appointed  a  provisional  governor  for  each  of  the  seceded 
states,  through  whose 
agency  a  consti- 
tutional convention 
was  called.  "  Only 
whites  who  had  taken 
the  amnesty  oath 
could  elect  delegates, 
or  themselves  be 
elected,  to  this  con- 
vention. At  the  in- 
stance of  the  presi- 
dent the  convention 
adopted  a  consti- 
tution or  legislation 
which  forbade  slav- 
ery, declared  the  or- 
dinance of  secession 
null  and  void,  and 
repudiated  the  Con- 
federate debt.  The 
convention  then  ap- 
pointed times  and  places  for  the  election  of  a  legislature 
and  a  permanent  governor.       In  a  few  months  the  gov- 


Johnson  be- 
comes pres- 
ident. 


ROBEKi     i-.    LiT-H. 

Born,  1807;  died,  1870.  Son  of  the  revolution- 
ary general,  Henry  Lee ;  graduated  at  West 
Point,  1829 ;  served  with  distinction  in  the 
Mexican  War;  resigned,  1861,  and  entered 
the  service  of  Virginia  ;  commander-in-chief 
of  Virgniia  troops,  and  general  in  Confed- 
erate army,  1861  ;  commander  of  army  of 
northern  Virginia,  1862-5 ;  president  of 
Washington  College,  Lexington,  Virginia. 


idrews,  II., 


The  first  plan  o< 
reconstruction— 
that  of  President 
Johnson. 


324  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


ernmental  machinery  had  been  set  In  motion  in  all  the 
late  Confederate  states,  and  in  December  senators  and 
representatives  from  all  except  Texas  were  knocking  at 
the  doors  of  Congress. ' ' 

But  when  Congress  met,  in  December,  1865,  the  Re- 
publican majority  in  both  Houses  developed  immediately 
a  strong  dissent  from  President  Johnson's  policy.  They 
did  not  trust  the  loyalty  of  the  amnestied  "  rebels,"  and 
especially  were  they  dissatisfied  with  the  way  in  which 
the  newly  organized  state  governments  were  dealing  with 
the  freedmen.  It  must  be  seen  that  few  communities 
have  ever  had  a  more  serious  question  than  confronted 
the  Southern  States  at  the  close  of  the  war  with  reference 
to  the  late  slaves.  The  negroes  had  not  been  made  free 
by  a  wise  process  of  gradual  emancipation,  as  had  been 
done  in  the  Northern  States,  but  the  ties  which  bound 
them  to  their  masters  were  rudely  burst  by  war  and  a 
sweeping  constitutional  amendment.  Thus  the  mass  of 
negroes,  untrained,  improvident,  ignorant,  shiftless,  were 
suddenly  thrown  on  their  own  resources.  To  maintain 
social  order,  to  prevent  lawlessness  and  crime,  to  insure 
against  actual  starvation  and  a  relapse  to  barbarism  on 
the  part  of  the  negroes — this  was  no  easy  task.  Some 
of  the  laws  enacted  for  these  purposes  provided  for  a 
system  of  ' '  apprenticeship  ' '  of  the  blacks,  which  seemed 
little  short  of  a  return  to  slavery.  And  so  Congress  re- 
jected the  president's  plan  of  reconstruction. 

The  congressional  plan  was  on  a  very  different  basis. 
In  the  first  place,  a  second  constitutional  amendment, 
the  fourteenth,  was  adopted.  This  was  intended  to  se- 
cure civil  rights  Tor  the  negroes.  At  the  same  time  it 
provided  for  the  repudiation  of  all  indebtedness  incurred 
in  carrying  on  the  rebellion,  and  excluded  from  public 
office  certain  classes  of  secession  leaders.      Then  in  1867 


The  Reco7istriicted  Repttblic.  325 

the  lately  seceded  states  were  put  under  military  rule, 
and  drastic  conditions  were  laid  down  as  precedent  to  re- 
admission  into  the  full  rights  of  federal  states.  Among 
these  conditions  the  most  essential  were  the  full  enfran- 
chisement of  the  negroes  and  the  ratification  of  the  four- 
teenth amendment.  In  accordance  with  this  plan  gov- 
ernments were  organized  anew  in  the  several  states,  and 
in  June,  1868,  the  representatives  of  six  were  admitted 
to  Congress — Alabama,  Arkansas,  Florida,  Louisiana, 
and  the  Carolinas.  Tennessee  had  been  admitted  in 
1866.  Georgia,  Virginia,  Mississippi,  and  Texas  were 
more  obstinate,  and  were  not  admitted  until  1870. 

The  various  measures  of  Congress  which  led  to  this  impeachment  of 
result  met  the  bitter  opposition  of  the  president,  and  the  fj^^  j'^g"'^  -'°^"" 
most  of  them  were  passed  over  his  vetoes.  In  the  course 
of  the  quarrel  Congress  passed  an  act  intended  to  limit 
the  president's  power  to  remove  office-holders.  This  he 
disregarded  in  the  case  of  the  secretary  of  war,  and  the 
House  of  Representatives  promptly  voted  impeachment. 
But  on  trial  before  the  Senate  there  was  a  failure  to  con- 
vict, seven  Republicans  voting  with  the  Democratic 
minority,  and  thus  preventing  the  constitutional  two 
thirds  vote.  Had  a  single  one  of  these  seven  voted  with 
the  majority,  the  president  would  have  been  removed 
from  his  high  office.  At  the  election  in  1868  the  gen- 
eral of  the  victorious  Union  armies,  Ulysses  S.  Grant, 
was  chosen  president,  and  now  again  the  executive  and  ^rSJ^ent^"^^ 
Congress  were  in  accord. 

The  reconstruction  of  the  Southern  States  under  the 
plan    of  Congress    meant  negro   suffrage.      The  blacks  bi^^.!' ^JI^p  ^n- 
very  generally    voted      and      acted     in     a     mass    with   ments. 
the    Republican    party,    as   was     natural.     Their   lead- 
ers   were    in    general     adventurers    from    the    North, 
-who    saw    a    chance    for    prominence     in     the     solid 


326  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


The  freedmen 
as  politicians. 


Scribner^s  Mag- 
azine, May, 
1895, P- 569- 


colored  vote,  though  there  were  some  southern  whites 
who  acted  with  them.  But  nearly  all  of  the  latter  class 
either  ignored  politics  in  utter  disgust,  or  voted  together 
against  the  Republicans.  The  negroes  found  an  eager 
delight  in  politics,  and  the  reconstructed  state  legisla- 
tures were  full 
of  them.  The 
result  was  what 
might  have  been 
expected.  The 
Republicans  in 
Congress  had 
given  the  ballot 
to  the  negroes 
as  a  weapon  for 
the  defense  of 
their  freedom, 
and  for  the  fur- 
ther purpose  of 
keeping  the  Re- 
publican party 
in  power  per- 
petually. But 
the  first  result  of 
negro  suffrage 
was  a  saturnalia 
of  ignorant  and 

president  of  the  United  States, '1869-77.  °  "      COrruot  g'OVern- 

ment,  such  as  the  world  has  seldom  seen.  The  debts  of 
reconstructed  states  were  rolled  up  to  an  enormous  vol- 
ume. At  the  close  of  the  war  these  debts  had  aggre- 
gated about  $87,000,000.  The  reconstruction  era 
added  about  $300,000,000,  and  a  great  part  of  this  was 
stolen  or  squandered.      And  this  burden  was  laid  on  a 


Ulysses  S.  Grant. 
Born,  1822;  died,  1885.  Graduated  at  West  Point, 
1843  ;  served  in  Mexican  War ;  resigned  and  entered 
business,  1854;  entered  Union  army,  1861  ;  colonel, 
2ist  Illinois  Infantry ;  bri.^adier-general,  1861  ;  cap- 
tured Forts  Henry  and  Donelson,  February,  1862  ; 
major-general,  1862 ;  captured  Vicksburg,  1863 ;  de- 
feated Bragg  at  Chattanooga,  1863;  lieutenant-gen- 
eral, 1864;  captured  Lee's  army,  1865;  general,  1865 


The  Reconstructed  Republic.  327 


society  which  had  been  utterly  impoverished  by  a  disas- 
trous civil  war. 

There  could  be  but  one  issue.  Men  of  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  race  cannot  be  expected  to  submit  forever  to  the  "^^^  reaction, 
dominance  of  ignorance  and  corruption.  A  political  re- 
action set  in.  At  first  the  negroes  were  terrified  by  the 
grotesque  tricks  of  a  secret  organization,  commonly 
called  the  "  Ku  Klux  Klan."  And  from  harmless  tricks 
the  whites  proceeded  to  violence,  flogging,  maiming, 
and  even  death  to  those  who  proved  refractory.  Means 
such  as  these  may  be  justifiable  in  desperate  circum- 
stances. And  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  wretched 
misgovernment  from  which  the  Southern  States  were  suf- 
fering. But  such  organizations  inevitably  fall  into  the  ^^^  ^ 
hands  of  the  worst  class  of  men.  The  Ku  Klux  was  ^i^"- 
no  exception,  and  in  time  its  machinery  was  used  not 
merely  for  lawless  violence  against  public  enemies,  but 
also  for  the  gratifying  of  private  malevolence  and  wanton 
cruelty.  And  when  President  Grant  put  an  end  to  such 
proceedings  with  a  strong  hand  there  were  few  to  regret 
it.  The  next  means  used  for  the  overthrow  of  negro 
rule  was  a  manipulation  of  the  ballot  system.  And  this 
was  supplemented  by  all  the  methods  of  legitimate  per- 
suasion. When  men  are  confronted  by  a  government 
which  is  intolerably  vicious  and  destructive,  one  is  loath 
to  criticise  the  means  by  which  it  is  overturned.  But 
violence  and  fraud,  whatever  their  justification  for  the 
time  being,  are  demoralizing  to  the  public  conscience. 
And  southern  political  life  has  not  failed  to  suffer  accord- 
ingly. This  was  the  cruel  dilemma  which  was  forced  The  dilemma, 
on  southern  people  by  the  rash  experiment  of  unrestricted 
suffrage  granted  to  a  race  whose  only  education  for  it 
had  been  generations  of  servile  dependence. 

By  whatever  means,  the  reaction  by    1874,  only  a  half 


The  reaction 
succeeds. 


328  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


dozen  years  after  the  reconstruction  of  most  of  the  seces- 
sion states  had  been  effected,  was  triumphant  in  all  those 
states  except  South  Carolina,  Florida,  and  Louisiana. 
In  the  process  there  had  been  great  confusion,  and  in 
some  cases  actual  civil  war.  The  federal  troops  were  freely 
used  to  maintain  the  authority  of  the  "reconstructed" 
governments.  This  was  very  distasteful  to  many  Re- 
publicans at  the  North,  and  was  among  the  causes 
which  led  to  a  considerable  revolt  from  the  dominant 


Election  of 

1872. 


Merrimac.  Monitor.  Minnesota. 

Action  between  the  "  Merrimac  "  and  the  "  Monitor,"  March,  1862. 

The  first  battle  between  armored  vessels. 

party  at  the  election  of  1872.  There  had  been  scandals 
in  the  public  service,  as  well  as  what  the  dissidents  felt 
was  oppression  in  the  South.  And  so  deep  was  the 
feeling  of  opposition  caused  by  these  things  that  the  Lib- 
eral Republicans,  as  they  called  themselves,  nominated 
for  president  Horace  Greeley,  the  stalwart  antislavery  edi- 
tor of  the    Tribune,  on  an  independent  platform.     Mr. 


The  Reconstructed  Republic. 


329 


Greeley's  nomination  was   indorsed   by  the  Democratic 
convention.      General  Grant,  however,  was   elected  bv  a   i^emocratic 

■'  victories  of 

sweepmg  majority  m  the  electoral  colleges.  Mr.  Greeley  ^^^^^ 
died  soon  after  the  general  election.  In  1874,  however, 
the  reaction  had  not  merely  swept  away  most  of  the 
Southern  States  from  Republican  control,  but  it  also  in- 
vaded the  North,  and  the  Democrats  for  the  first  time 
since  i860  had  a  majority  in  the  Lower  House  of  Con- 
gress. The  political 
overturn  was  largely 
aided  by  the  financial 
panic  of  1873. 

In  1876  the  electoral 
campaign  was  an  extra- 
ordinarily close  contest. 
Governor  Tilden  of  New 
York,  the  Democratic 
nominee,  carried  the 
''doubtful"  Northern 
States,  New  York,  New 
Jersey,  Connecticut,  and 
Indiana,  and  all  the 
Southern  States  except 
the  three  which  were 
still    ' '  reconstructed. ' ' 


Disputed 
election  of  1876. 


Samuel  J.  Tilden. 
Born,  1814;  died,  1886.    Lawyer;  governor 
of  New  York,  1875-7;  candidate  for  the 
presidency,  1876. 


In  these  three  both  parties 
claimed  a  majority,  and  from  each  of  them  certificates 
for  both  sets  of  electors  were  forwarded  to  Washington. 
As  the  Senate  was  Republican  and  the  House  Demo- 
cratic, it  followed  that  a  deadlock  was  quite  possible. 
The  constitution  and  laws  did  not  clearly  provide  for 
such  an  emergency,  and  in  the  excited  state  of  public 
feeling  there  was  grave  danger  of  an  appeal  to  arms. 
The  dispute  was  settled  by  a  commission  composed  of 
five  from  each  House  of  Congress  and  five  judges  of  the 


The  deadlock. 


330  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


The  Electoral 
Commission. 


The  freedmen. 


Supreme  Court — eight  Republicans  and  seven  Demo- 
crats. The  contests,  including  also  a  flimsy  one  in  Ore- 
gon, were  settled  by  the  vote  of  this  body  in  favor  of  the 
Republicans.  And  General  R.  B.  Hayes  of  Ohio,  the 
Republican  candidate,  became  president.  But  he  de- 
clined to  interfere  to  support  the  local  Republican  state 
governments  in  the  disputed  states,  and  they  at  once 
fell.  From  that  time  the  political  reaction  in  the  South 
against  the  reconstruction  policy  was  everywhere  com- 
pletely triumphant.  And  since  then  the  white  people 
have  controlled  all  the  old  slave  states. 

Meanwhile  the  most  promising  work  for  the  freedmen 

was  not  that  of  the 
politicians  who  made 
public  ofiicials  of 
'^ignorant  negroes, 
but     rather    that    of 

1/  /  '91^^^^^^  ^MBM^v^f  philanthropists  who 
>..  -  ^^mW^^^\-.  JMHIR:^^  set  on  foot  larger  ed- 
ucational enterprises 
for  the  improvement 
of  the  colored  peo- 
ple. At  Hampton, 
in  Virginia,  and  at 
other  places,  such  in- 
stitutions have  been 
provided.  They 
teach  industry  and 
manual  skill,  as  well 
as  letters.  What  the 
freedmen  needed,  ob- 
viously, was  habits  of 
thrift  and  foresight, 
as  well  as  the  intelligence  to  maintain  themselves  by  their 


Rutherford  B.  Hayes. 
Born,  1822;  d^ied,  1893.  Educated  at  Kenyon 
College;  lawyer;  brevet  major-general  of 
volunteers  in  the  Civil  War;  member  of 
Congress,  1865-7 ;  governor  of  Ohio,  1868-72, 
and  1876  ;  president  of  the  United  States, 
1877-81. 


The  Reconstructed  Republic,  331 

own  exertions.  In  the  dissemination  of  these  quahties — 
and  it  must  be  a  slow  process — lies  the  hope  of  the  race 
for  the  future. 

Another  issue  arisinp-  from  the  Civil  War  was  settled  in 

.  ,  .   .  The  treaty  of 

1 87 1.  The  connivance  of  the  British  government  at  the  Washington, 
construction  in  her  ports  of  the  Alabama  and  other 
cruisers  intended  for  the  Confederates,  and  then  at  their 
sailing,  had  led  to  the  destruction  of  our  mercantile  ma- 
rine. And  Great  Britain  had  quietly  taken  the  place 
thus  \^acated  by  her  rival.  The  American  government 
had  repeatedly  attempted  to  induce  Great  Britain  to 
make  reparation,  but  in  vain.  In  1871,  however,  the 
condition  of  British  foreign  relations  was  such  as  to  make 
it  expedient  to  have  no  unsettled  questions  with  the  great 
republic,  and  accordingly  a  treaty  was  negotiated  for  the 
settlement  of  the  Alabama  Claims,  as  well  as  of  other  mat- 
ters. The  Alabama  Claims  were  referred  to  a  tribunal 
of  arbitration  which  met  at  Geneva,  Switzerland,  in  the  The  Geneva 
following  winter.  In  1872  this  tribunal  decided  in  favor 
of  the  United  States,  awarding  $15,500,000  to  be  paid 
by  Great  Britain  for  the  vessels  destroyed.  The  treaty 
established  as  definite  principles  of  international  law  the 
duty  of  neutrals  not  to  allow  the  fitting  out  of  belligerent 
cruisers  in  their  ports,  and  of  course  the  Americans  were 
gratified  at  the  decision  in  their  favor  by  an  impartial 
tribunal.  But  all  this  did  not  restore  the  ocean  com- 
merce to  which  Great  Britain  had  succeeded.  The  dam- 
ages were  a  low  price  to  pay  for  getting  a  dangerous 
commercial  rival  safely  out  of  the  way,  and  a  war  with 
England  at  that  time  would  have  been  even  more  popu- 
lar in  the  United  States  than  the  treaty  and  the  award. 
However,  statesmanship  happily  prevailed  over  popular 
passion,  and  so  the  dangerous  question  was  put  finally 
at  rest. 


The  ideas  of 
peace. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

A    SECOND    ERA    OF    ECONOMIC    PROGRESS. 

References. — Andrews  ;  The  Congressional  Globe  ;  Laugh- 
lin  ;  Wells  :  Recent  Economic  Changes. 

After  the  second  war  with  England  the  thoughts  and 
energies  of  the  American  people  were  turned  unchecked 
to  the  orderly  development  of  material  resources.  The 
general  peace  in  Europe  made  possible  a  natural  growth 
of  society  as  had  not  been  the  case  for  a  quarter  cen- 
tury. The  same  thing  occurred  when  the  surrender  of 
Lee  put  an  end  to  the  slavery  turmoil  which  for  another 
quarter  century  had  distracted  the  public  life  of  the 
country.  To  be  sure,  during  each  interval  of  absorbing 
strife  social  forces  had  gone  on  quietly  as  before  and 
after.  But  their  action  was  diverted  and  checked,  as 
well  as  obscured,  by  the  predominant  excitement  and  by 
the  grave  and  uncertain  character  of  the  prevailing 
issues.  Peace  was  followed  by  the  resumption  of 
those  activities  which  marked  the  period  between  the 
treaty  of  Ghent  and  the  annexation  of  Texas.  And  so 
once  more  we  hear  of  the  settlement  of  new  states,  of 
improved  means  of  transportation,  of  manufactures  and 
foreign  commerce  and  banking,  of  tariffs  and  currency, 
tion.  ^^°  "'  And  again  education  and  philanthropy,  literature  and  art, 
social  and  political  reform,  fill  the  popular  interest.  Only 
of  course  in  the  last  three  decades  all  has  been  on  a 
vastly  larger  scale  than  was  the  state  of  things  in  the 
three   decades  which  followed  Jackson's  victory  at  New 


A  Second  Era  of  Economic  Progress.  333 

Orleans.  But  otherwise  the  general  conditions  are  very 
similar. 

The  immediate  economic  effect  on  the  South  of  the 
war  was  the  almost  complete  destruction  of  prosperitv.    ^^"'^9*  of  the 

^  x-        X  /       ^-ar  in  the 

A  large  part  of  southern  capital,  estimated  at  $2,000,-  South. 
000,000,  was  invested  in  slaves.  By  the  Emancipation 
Proclamation  and  the  thirteenth  amendment  this  specie 
of 'property  was — we  cannot  say  destroyed — but  trans- 
ferred from  the  whites  to  the  negroes  themselves.  This 
alone  sufficed  to  reduce  thousands  of  families  from  afflu- 
ence to  poverty.  Then  foreign  commerce  had  been 
almost  entirely  cut  off 
for  several  years,  so 
that  the  cotton  crop 
had  largely  gone  to 
waste.  Banking  and 
insurance  capital  had 
disappeared,  and 
money  had  been  re- 
placed by  a  paper 
currency  which  be- 
came worthless.  More 
or  less    capital  had 

gone    into   Confeder-  ■^^^■Hl^^^^H  vafJeT''''"  ""^ 
ate  bonds,   which    of 
course  the    result  of 

the    war    deprived    of  ^^^^  ^g^^  .  iitd.Tss"^'  ^Educat'ed  at  Williams 

all     value thoug-h     a  College;  lawyer;  president  of  Hiram  college, 

*  Ohio;    major-general  of  volunteers    in     the 

crrpaf     nnrf     c\^   \\\c\<s.(^  Civil  War;    member  of   Congress,   1863-80; 

great      pan     01     UlObe  u.  S.  senator,  1880;   president  of  the  United 

bonds    were    held      states.  1881. 

abroad.  Then  where  the  armies  had  marched  property 
of  all  kinds  had  been  destroyed.  And,  besides  the  loss 
of  at  least  300,000  lives,  many  thousands  more  of  able- 
bodied  men  had  for  years  been  withdrawn  from  produc- 


334 


The   Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


Effect  of  the 
war  in  the 
North, 


The  national 
debt. 


Internal 
revenue. 


tive  employment,  so  that  when  peace  came,  the  South 
had  Httle  left  but  its  people  and  its  land.  But  the  latter 
was  in  itself  an  inexhaustible  source  of  wealth.  And 
rarely  in  history  have  the  indomitable  qualities  of  a  peo- 
ple been  more  brilliantly  shown  than  in  the  quiet  heroism 
with  which  the  southern  people  accepted  their  defeat  and 
set  out  patiently  to  restore  their  prosperity. 

In  the  North  the  war  brought  an  actual  inflation  of 
business.  The  government  was  spending  lavish  sums  of 
money  every  year.  Foreign  trade  flowed  on  unchecked, 
and  immigration  continued.  Everywhere  manufactures 
and  commerce  thrived,  and  the  desolation  of  war  was 
kept  from  the  northern  borders.  The  lives  which  were 
lost  in  the  armies  were  replaced,  numerically  at  least,  by 
immigration  from  Europe,  and  the  destruction  of  prop- 
erty which  war  really  entails,  even  to  the  victor,  was 
masked  by  the  fact  that  huge  sums  were  borrowed,  so 
that  the  loss  would  be  repaid  by  future  generations. 

The  national  debt  by  August,  1865,  had  reached  the 
amount  of  $2,844,649,626.  And  this  was  a  part  of  the 
money  cost  of  maintaining  the  Union.  But  the  national 
revenues  throughout  the  contest  had  been  steadily  large, 
amounting  for  the  four  years  to  about  $780,000,000. 
And  after  peace  came  the  revenues  continued  to  swell. 
Thus  not  only  was  the  annual  interest  on  the  national 
bonds  promptly  paid,  but  considerable  sums  were  avail- 
able each  year  to  reduce  the  principal.  The  report  of 
the  secretary  of  the  treasury  on  the  first  of  December, 
1894,  showed  that  the  total  debt  less  cash  in  the  treasury 
had  been  reduced  to  $837,221,204.22 — being  a  reduc- 
tion of  upwards  of  two  thousands  of  millions  of  dollars 
in  less  than  thirty  years. 

The  taxes  which  yielded  so  rich  returns  during  war 
time  were   not  only   customs,  but  were  many  kinds  of 


A  Seco7id  Era  of  Economic  Progress,  335 


internal  revenue  dues  as  well.  '<  Besides  taxes  on  spirits 
and  malt  liquors,  there  were  stamp  duties  on  all  manner 
of  business  paper,  on  matches,  on  manufactured  tobacco, 
license  fees  for  peddling,  and  many  others.     With  the 

end  of  the  war  these  excises  were  reduced  as  speedily   Reduction  of 

•1,1  r         J    j^^gg 

as  possible,  so  that 
now,  besides  the 
bank  tax,  there  are 
internal  revenue 
dues  levied  only 
on  liquors  and  to- 
bacco. 

The  duties  paid 
at  the  custom- 
houses have,  as  has 
been  the  case  from 
the  beginning  of 
the  government, 
afforded  the  prin- 
cipal means  of  fed- 
eral income.  One 
of  the  last  acts  of 
President  Buchan- 
an, the  last  Demo- 
cratic president  be- 
fore the  Civil  War, 
was    to    sign    the 

Morrill  Tariff  Act.  This  act  raised  the  duties  which  had 
been  lowered  by  the  tariffs  of  1846  and  1857,  and  again 
adjusted  the  tariff  to  a  system  of  protection.  Subsequent 
amendments  raised  the  rates  still  higher,  and,  on  the 
whole,  from  that  time  to  this  the  protective  principle  has 
been  maintained.  The  Republican  party  as  originally 
formed,  or  as  it  came  out  of  the  Civil  War,  was  by  no 


Chester  A.  Arthur. 
Born,  1830  ;  died,  1886.  Educated  at  Union  Col- 
lege; lawyer;  quartermaster-general,  state  of 
New  York,  1861-2;  collector,  port  of  New  York  ; 
vice-president  of  the  United  States,  1881  ;  presi- 
dent, on  the  death  of  President  Garfield. 


The  Morrill 
tariff. 


336  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


The  Republi- 
cans for  pro- 
tection. 


Tariff  reform. 


Election  of 
Cleveland,  1884. 


means  wholly  a  party  of  protection.  The  main  issues  then 
related  to  the  authority  of  the  nation  and  to  slavery.  But 
the  large  Whig  composition  of  the  new  party  sufficed  to 
give  it  a  bias  toward  protection.  After  the  war,  how- 
ever, a  considerable  number  of  influential  Republicans 
began  to  urge  a  reform  of  the  tariff  in  the  direction  of 
free  trade.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Walker  low 
tariff  of  1846  coincided  practically  with  the  English 
movement  for  free  trade,  and  the  change  produced  by 
the  Morrill  Act  and  the  subsequent  amendments  were  a 
reaction  against  that  tendency  in  this  country.  Congress 
modified  the  tariff  rates  somewhat  in  1872  and  again  in 
1883.  But  the  protective  principle  was  untouched. 
The  Democratic  party,  while  by  no  means  united  for 
low  tariff,  on  the  whole  favored  a  reduction,  and  in 
1887-88  very  nearly  carried  an  act  for  lower  rates.  It 
passed  the  House,  but  failed  in  the  Senate. 

A  prominent  leader  of  the  Republicans  after  the  war, 
and  an  ardent  advocate  of  the  system  of  protection,  was 
James  G.  Blaine,  of  Maine.  As  speaker  of  the  House 
of  Representatives  he  had  commanding  influence  in  the 
party,  and  in  1884  he  secured  the  presidential  nom- 
ination. At  the  election,  however,  Grover  Cleveland, 
the  Democratic  governor  of  New  York,  was  chosen 
president,  carrying  the  great  state  of  New  York  and 
thus  the  presidency  by  the  slender  plurality  of  1,100 
votes.  This  was  the  first  time  since  Buchanan  re- 
tired that  a  Democratic  president  had  occupied  the 
White  House.  Mr.  Cleveland's  election  would  have 
been  impossible  if  the  people  had  not  become  convinced 
that  the  war  issues  were  finally  settled.  In  1887  the 
president  called  the  attention  of  Congress  to  the  grow- 
ing surplus  in  the  treasury,  resulting  from  the  high  tariff 
rates,  and  to  what  he  considered  to  be  the  inequitable 


A  Second  Era  of  Economic  Progress. 


337 


working  of  the  protective  system.  The  bill  which  em- 
bodied his  views  failed  to  pass,  as  has  been  seen,  and  at 
the  presidential  election  of  1888  the  Republicans  were 
again  successful. 

However,  the  course  of  President  Cleveland  resulted 
in  committing  the  Democratic  party  definitely  to  the 
policy  of  low  tariff. 
A  considerable 
portion  of  the 
party,  especially  in 
the  old  Middle 
States,  had  stead- 
ily favored  pro- 
tection. Benjamin 
Harrison  of  Indi- 
ana succeeded  to 
the  presidency  in 
1889.  And  in  the 
following  year  the 
Republican  meas- 
ures for  dealing 
with  the  tariff  and 
the  treasury  sur- 
plus became  laws. 
The  McKinley 
Tariff  Act  of  1890 
reduced  revenue 
by  enlarging  the 
free  list,  at  the  same  time  raising  the  rates  of  duty  on 
many  manufactured  articles.  And  the  surplus  was 
further  reduced  by  an  act  making  still  more  liberal  the 
already  generous  provisions  for  the  pension  of  soldiers  of 
the  Civil  War.  The  disbursements  to  pensioners  in 
were  over  $88,000,000,  the  greatest  amount  which 


Defeat  ofClev( 
land,  1888. 


James  G.  Blaine. 
Born,  1830;  died,  1892.     Teacher  ;  journalist ;  mem- 
ber of  Congress,  1863-77;  United  States  senator, 
1877-81;  secretary  of  state,  1881  and  1889-93;  can- 
didate for  the  presidency,  1884. 


The  McKinley 
Act,  1890. 


338  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 


The  sugar 
bounty. 


Free  sugar. 


had  up  to  that  time  been  paid  out  for  that  purpose  In 
any  one  year.  The  pension  disbursements  for  1890 
were  $106,000,000,  for  1891  $118,000,000,  for  1892 
$141,000,000,  for  1893  $158,000,000,  and  for  1894 
$140,000,000.  The  pension  payments  for  any  one  of 
these  last  five  years  exceeded  the  whole  national  debt 
incurred  by  the  two  wars  with  England. 

Another  distinctive 
feature  of  the  Mc- 
Kinley  Act  was  the 
sugar  bounty.  The 
sugar  consumed  in 
the  United  States  in 
the  year  1890 
amounted  to  nearly 
a  million  and  a  half 
of  tons,  of  which 
only  about  a  quarter 
of  a  million  was  do- 
mestic product.  The 
protective  duty  on 
this  article,  mainly  for 
the  benefit  of  the 
Louisiana  planters, 
served  to  raise  the 
price  of  the  whole  amount  consumed  by  the  people, 
without  any  apparent  likelihood  that  the  domestic  prod- 
uct would  ever  equal  the  home  demand.  On  the  other 
hand,  to  remove  the  duty  altogether  would  have  the 
certain  effect  to  destroy  the  Louisiana  industry,  which 
could  not  compete  in  price  with  the  cheap  product  of 
Cuba.  Accordingly,  the  McKinley  Act  put  sugar  on 
the  free  list,  thus  reducing  the  price  of  the  commodity 
and  at  the  same  time  reducing  the  surplus  in  the  treasury 


Born,  1837. 


Grover  Cleveland. 
Lawyer;   sheriflF  of  Erie  County, 


New  York,  1871-4;  mayor  of  Buffalo,  N.  Y. 
1882;  governor  of  New  York,  1883-5;  presi- 
dent of  the  United  States,  1885-9,  ^"d  1893—. 


A  Second  Era  of  Econo^nic  Progress.  339 


by  many  millions.  Then  to  prevent  the  destruction  of 
the  Louisiana  interest  a  bounty  was  offered  from  the 
treasury  on  all  sugars  and  molasses,  whether  from  cane, 
beet,  maple,  or  sorghum,  produced  in  the  United  States. 
And  this  was  to  continue  for  fifteen  years. 

The  Pension  and  the  McKinley  Acts  together  sufficed  Political  results 

•        ,  T^  ,  ,     of  the  McKinley 

to  reduce  the  surplus  m  the  treasury.  But  they  proved  Act. 
exceedingly  unpopular,  and  at  the  elections  in  1890 
the  Democrats  carried  the  Lower  House  of  Congress. 
In  1892  they  had  a  sweeping  victory  in  the  nation,  again 
electing  Mr.  Cleveland  to  the  presidency  and  now  secur- 
ing both  Houses  of  Congress.  Thus  for  the  first  time 
since  1861  the  Demo- 
cratic party  found  it- 
self in  control  of  the 
entire  executive  and 
legislative  branches 
of  the  national  gov- 
ernment. 

The  result  at  the 
first  regular  session  of  Si'~- 
Congress  was  the 
enactment  of  the 
Wilson  Tariff  Bill. 
This  act  lowered  the 
duties  in  general,  put 
wool,  salt,  and  lumber 
on  the  free  list,  re- 
stored the  duty  on 
sugar,   and    repealed 

the  sugar  bounty  provision.  Another  striking  feature  of 
this  law  was  an  elaborate  provision  for  a  tax  on  all  incomes 
exceeding  $4,000.  The  bill  as  it  passed  the  House  was 
decidedly  a  more  positive  low  tariff  measure  than  the 


Benjamin  Harrison. 
Born,   1833.     Educated   at    Miami   University; 
lawyer ;    brigadier-general  of  volunteers   in 
the  Civil  War  ;  United  States  senator,  1881-7  ; 
president  of  the  United  States,  1889-93. 


340  The  Growth  of  the  American  Natio?i. 


The  income 
tax  uncon- 
stitutional. 


Expansion  of 
the  republic. 


Immigration, 


Exclusion  of 
the  Chinese. 


act  as  it  became  law.  Some  of  the  Democratic  sena- 
tors combined  with  the  RepubHcans  in  that  body  in  the 
interest  of  protection.  President  Cleveland  was  so  dis- 
satisfied with  the  revenue  reform  character  of  the  amended 
bill  that  he  refused  to  sign  it,  allowing  it  to  become  a  law 
by  the  lapse  of  the  constitutional  period  of  ten  days. 

It  may  be  added  that  the  constitutionality  of  the  in- 
come tax  was  attacked  in  the  courts,  and  in  May,  1895, 
the  Supreme  Court  declared  that  it  was  unconstitutional 
and  void. 

The  great  revenues  which  enabled  the  government  to 
pay  off  the  national  debt  at  so  unparalleled  a  rate  came 
from  a  commerce  which  grew  and  thrived  mightily. 
The  last  thirty  years  have  seen  an  expansion  of  the  re- 
public no  greater  relatively  than  at  previous  epochs,  but 
its  totals  are  such  as  to  try  the  imagination.  The  popu- 
lation in  1890,  62,000,000,  was  twice  that  of  i860.  There 
has  been  a  flood  of  immigration  from  Europe  since  the 
Civil  War.  In  the  single  year  1882  the  arrivals  were 
789,000,  and  not  far  from  a  half  million  have  come  yearly 
since  about  that  time.  A  large  part  of  this  movement  of 
population  has  gone  westward,  induced  by  the  home- 
stead policy  adopted  in  1862.  A  free  farm  has  been  a 
powerful  magnet.  In  the  Northwestern  States  large 
numbers  of  Scandinavians  have  settled,  and  they  have  as- 
similated American  ideas  rapidly.  Germans  also  have 
come  by  thousands,  bringing  their  native  thrift  and  keen 
intelligence,  and  natives  of  the  British  Isles  are  found 
everywhere.  Since  the  improvement  of  navigation  has 
made  ocean  transportation  cheap,  many  less  desirable 
immigrants  have  come,  and  it  is  a  question  whether  the 
extraordinary  power  of  assimilation  thus  far  displayed 
can  go  on  forever.  Certainly  on  the  Pacific  coast  the 
Asiatic  immigrants  are  not  such  as  can    be  made  into 


A  Second  Era  of  Economic  Progress.  341 

American  citizens,  and  it  is   on  that  ground  that  their 
further  importation  has  been  restricted  by  law. 

One  striking  result  of  the  great  increase  of  population 
has  been  the  addition  of  new  states  to  the  Union.  The 
great  western  wilderness  of  i860  has  now  been  formed 
into  a  cluster  of  thriving  states.  Nevada  was  admitted  New  states. 
in  1864,  Nebraska  in  1867,  Colorado  in  1876,  North  and 
South  Dakota,  Montana,  and  Washington  in  1889,  Idaho 
and  Wyoming  in  1890,  and  Utah  will  be  a  state  in  1896. 


A  Grain  Elevator  in  Chicago. 


The  only  territories  remaining  are  Arizona,  New  Mexico, 
Oklahoma,  and  Alaska — the  last  being  only  partially 
organized.  Alaska  was  the  old  Russian  America,  and 
was  purchased  In  1867,  for  $7,200,000.  This  is  the  last 
acquisition  of  foreign  territory  thus  far.  In  1893  the 
republic  of  Hawaii  applied  for  annexation,  and  Presi- 
dent Harrison  negotiated  a  treaty.  But  the  Senate  de- 
layed action  until  after  the  inauguration  of  Mr.    Cleve- 


T he  territories. 


342 


The   Growth  of  the  American  Natio7i. 


Railroads. 


Economic 
results. 


land,  who  withdrew  the  treaty.  Hawaii  was  civiHzed  by 
the  influence  of  American  settlers,  and  American  capital 
dominates  the  islands. 

The  rapid  settlement  of  the  vast  region  west  of  the 
Mississippi  has  been  made  possible  by  the  extension  of 
the  railroad  system.  In  1869  the  first  through  Hne  to 
the  Pacific  was  opened,  and  since  then  a  series  of  such 
lines  has  crossed  the  continent.  Meanwhile  the  rest  of 
the  Union  has  become  gridironed  with  tracks.  The 
total  mileage  in  i860  was  30,626.  In  1893  it  was  177,- 
753.  And  the  improvement  lies  not  merely  in  the  num- 
ber of  miles  of  track.  The  capacity  to  move  freight  and 
passengers  has  increased  far  more  rapidly  than  mileage. 
Steel,  since  the  decade  beginning  with  1870,  has  re- 
placed iron  in  the  rails,  the  roadbeds  are  heavier,  the 
roads  have  fewer  curves  and  lower  gradients,  bridges  are 
of  steel,  tracks  are  double,  cars  are  larger,  engines  more 
powerful,  trains  make  much  better  time,  and  hundreds  of 
other  improvements  are  supplied.  But  the  most  marked 
result  of  all  is  the  cheapening  of  transportation.  The 
average  cost  of  carrying  a  ton  of  freight  one  mile  is  a 
little  less  than  one  cent.  When  the  Civil  War  broke 
out,   the  cost  was  upwards  of  three  cents. 

This  cheapening  of  transportation,  together  with  im- 
proved facilities  for  carrying  perishable  articles,  like  fruits 
and  meats,  has  revolutionized  economic  conditions.  The 
whole  world  is  brought  next  door,  and  prices  of  all  com- 
modities have  tended  to  become  lower  to  the  consumer. 
At  the  same  time  great  areas  of  land  have  become  pro- 
ductive, because  they  are  within  reach  of  a  market,  and 
hence,  as  has  been  said,  the  rapid  settlement  of  what  was 
the  great  western  wilderness. 

But  the  New  West,  with  its  great  mines,  its  cattle 
ranges,  and  wheat-fields  capable  of  feeding  the  world, 


A  Second  Era  of  Economic  Progress.  343 

Its  busy  and  crowded  cities,  its  schools  and  libraries  and 
colleg-es,  is  only  one  of  the  new  sections  of  the  republic. 
The  New  South  is  another.      Gradually  after  the  war  the  J^uth^^^ 


Statue  of  Henry  W.  Grady,  Atlanta,  Ga. 

Mr.  Grady,  a  leading  southern  journalist,  had  a  powerful  influence,  which  he 

exerted  to  restore  friendship  between  North  and  South. 

patient  energy  of  the  impoverished  people  devoted  to 
their  rich  natural  resources  began  to  ripen  into  abundant 
fruits.      Capital  began  to  flow  southward.      Cotton  was   co^on, 
raised  with  free  labor  in  much  greater  quantities  even 
than  in  the  lordly  days  before  the  war.      Cotton  factories 


344  ^^^^  Growth  of  the  A^Jtericaji  Natio7i. 


Mines. 


A  restored 
nation. 


began  to  spring  up  in  the  midst  of  the  staple.  Mines 
of  coal  and  iron  began  to  be  developed.  Manufacturing 
towns — Birmingham  and  Chattanooga — great  centers  of 
commerce,  like  Atlanta — sprang  up  and  grew  like  the 
great  cities  of  the  West.  Above  all,  gradually  the  old 
sectional  bitterness  of  the  war  began  to  die  out.  People 
North  as  well  as  South  came  to  learn  that  the  war  and 
its  issues  were  ended.  Southern  people  are  once  more 
active  and  influential  in  national  politics.  The  North  is 
more  and  more  disposed  to  realize  that  the  peculiar 
problems  of  southern  social  life  can  best  be  worked  out 
by  the  southern  people  themselves.  And  nowhere  is 
there  to-day  more  loyalty  to  the  nation  than  in  the  New 
South.  A  new  generation  has  grown  up.  Tolerance 
and  kindly  feeling  are  daily  growing.  Those  of  each 
section  are  learning  that  the  others,  too,  fought  for  a 
principle — that  both  were  heroic.  And  all  can  afford  to 
forget  the  passions  of  the  struggle  and  remember  only 
the  gallant  deeds  of  the  heroes  in  both  armies. 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

SOME    QUESTIONS    OF    THE    DAY. 

"^  References. — Laughlin  ;    The  Congressional  Globe;  Knox: 
United  Stales  Notes. 

When  the  Civil  War  broke  out,  there  was  immedi- 
ately a  pressing  demand  for  money.  War  is  an  expen-  baiSg?^^" 
sive  luxury,  and  needs  ready  cash  in  large  amounts.  The 
government  found  the  treasury  almost  bankrupt,  and  at 
first  was  afraid  to  lay  the  heavy  taxes  which  would  have 
provided  the  needed  income.  Meanwhile  gold  was  ex- 
ported and  hoarded,  and  in  the  last  days  of  1861  specie 
payments  were  suspended  by  the  banks.  That  left  no 
circulating  medium  but  the  notes  of  state  banks.  Ac- 
cordingly, in  1862,  it  was  determined  to  issue  United 
States  paper  demand  notes  which  should  be  a  legal  ten- 
der. With  these  notes,  "greenbacks"  they  were  famil- 
iarly called,  the  government  undertook  to  pay  its  bills.  iJ^FfbrSy,^'^ 
In  the  years  1862  and  1863  $450,000,000  of  them  were  ^^^^• 
issued.  By  that  time  the  inevitable  depreciation  of  such 
issues,  so  familiar  whenever  the  attempt  to  float  them  is 
made,  had  proceeded  very  far,  and  further  issue  was 
stopped.  Meanwhile  all  the  fractional  silver  had  fol- 
lowed the  gold  out  of  the  country,  and  the  government 
had  to  fill  its  place  also  with  paper. 

By  this  time  bonds  had  been  provided,  and  their  sale, 

.  .  I'll         1 J  1  National  bank- 

together  with  the  heavier  taxes  which  should  nave  at  once   ing  law,  1863. 
been  laid  in   1861,  enabled  the  treasury  to  meet  its  en- 
gagements.     In   1863  an  act  was  passed  providing  for 
the  organization  of  national  banks.     They  were  required 

345 


Gold  at  a  pre- 


Bolles,  III.,  141. 


346  The  Growth  of  the  American  Natioji. 

to  deposit  United  States  bonds  with  the  treasury  at 
Washington  as  security  for  currency  they  might  issue. 
In  1865  a  tax  of  ten  per  cent  was  laid  on  the  currency 
of  state  banks.  By  this  means  that  form  of  currency 
was  forced  out  of  circulation,  and  banks  which  wished 
the  privilege  of  issuing  currency  were  driven  to  become 
national  banks. 

When  the  war  closed  gold  was  at  a   high  premium. 

mium.     "  The  highest  point  had  been   reached  in   1864,  when  a 

gold  dollar  was  worth  $2.85  in  paper.  What  this  really 
meant  was  that  a  greenback  dollar  was  worth  about 
thirty-five  cents  in  gold.  But  as  the  likelihood  increased 
that  the  legal  tender  notes  would  one  day  be  paid,  their 
price  in  gold  rose.  It  was  the  desire  of  the  secretary 
of  the  treasury  under  President  Johnson,  Hugh  McCul- 
loch,  to  make  immediate  preparations  for  the  resumption 
of  specie  payments  and  the  payment  of  the  debt.  And 
to  that  end  he  proposed  first  of  all  to  pay  off  the  green- 
back notes.     This  was  done  gradually,  until  this  form  of 

1868.  the  debt  had  been  reduced  to  $356,000,000. 

But  the  war  was  followed  by  a  period  of  speculation 
in  business.     Expansion  was  seen  on  all  sides,  and  soon 

The  greenbacks  there  began  to  bean  outcry  against  a  reduction  of  the 
currency.  To  this  outcry  Congress  responded  by  for- 
bidding any  further  payment  of  the  demand  notes,  and 
so  that  amount  ($356,000,000)  has  since  remained 
afloat.  The  trouble  was  that  people  had  become  accus- 
tomed to  use  the  greenbacks  as  money  and  failed  to  un- 
derstand that  they  were  not  money  at  all,  but  only 
promises  to  pay  money.  It  is  the  old  confusion  of  ideas 
which  almost  every  generation  has  to  have  cleared  up 
by  having  sound  notions  beaten  into  the  head  by  hard 
experience.  So  far  had  this  delusion  gone  that  in  1874 
Congress   passed  a  bill  to  increase  the  amount  of  legal 


Some  Questions  of  the  Day.  347 

tender  greenbacks  to  $400,000,000.  But  President 
Grant  vetoed  the  bill.  And  after  efforts  of  the  inflation- 
ists in  this  direction  came  to  naught.  ''Fiat  money," 
so  far  as  paper  was  concerned,  made  no  further  head- 
way. 

But  now  another  popular  idea  about  the  currency 
sprang  up.  Under  the  act  of  1834,  ^s  has  been  seen, 
gold  drove  the  dearer  silver  out  of  circulation.  A  silver 
dollar  was  worth  more  than  a  gold  dollar,  and  so  was 
no  longer  in  use.  And  the  fractional  silver  was  only 
kept  afloat  by  becoming  mere  token  money,  under  the 
act  of  1853.  In  1873  an  act  was  passed  to  regulate 
the  currency.  By  this  act  the  coinage  of  silver  dollars  The  act  of  1873. 
was  ordered  discontinued.  And  in  1874  the  revised 
statutes  of  the  United  States  limited  the  legal  tender 
power  of  all  silver  coins  to  the  amount  of  five  dollars. 
It  is  often  said  that  by  the  act  of  1873  silver  was  demon- 
etized surreptitiously.  But  the  act  was  before  Congress 
two  years.  The  debates  filled  many  columns  of  the 
Co7igressional  Globe.  It  was  well  understood  that  the 
silver  dollar  was  to  be  dropped.  The  fact  excited  little 
attention,  because  nobody  cared.  In  point  of  fact, 
neither  silver  nor  gold  was  in  common  circulation,  as 
specie  payments  had  not  yet  been  resumed.  And  gold 
had  really  been  the  measure  of  values  for  nearly  forty 
years. 

That  same  year,  1873,  marked  the  culmination  of  a  The  panic  of 
period  of  over-speculation  which  followed  the  war.     The  ^^^^' 
bubble  burst.     And  a  business  panic  like  those  of '37 
and  '57  spread  ruin  far  and  wide.     Prices  of  all  com- 
modities fell.     And  people  found  it  hard  to  get  a  simple 
living. 

But  this  panic  at  once  accelerated  the  political  move-   ^^^^  ^^^^ 
ment  for  cheap  money.     In  the  various  speculative  en- 


348  The  Growth  of  the  American  Nation. 

terprises  of  the  preceding  years,  especially  in  the  West, 
everybody  had  borrowed  largely.  And  now  no  one 
was  making  money.  Land  values  and  stocks  dropped. 
Agricultural  products  could  only  be  sold  at  a  low  price. 
But  the  principal  and  interest  of  the  debts  to  eastern 
capitalists  remained  fixed.  And  many  people  began  to 
think  that  it  would  be  no  more  than  right  if  these  debts 
See  p.  347.  could  be  paid  in  some  kind   of  cheaper  money  which 

could  still  be  called  "dollars."     We  have  seen  how  the 
paper  inflation  bill  of  1874  was  killed  by  the  veto. 

In  1875  the  Republican  Congress,  as  one  of  its  last 
,    acts  before  e:ivinp-  way  to  its  Democratic  successor  elected 

Resumption  of      ^  c>  o         j 

specie  pay-  Jn  the  previous  year,  made  a  law  providing  for  the  re- 
sumption of  specie  payments  on  the  first  of  January, 
1879. 

In  the  decade  beginning  in  1870,  there  was  a  general 

ard  in  Europe.  European  movement  in  the  direction  of  substituting  a 
single  gold  standard  for  the  double  standard  of  gold  and 
silver.  Germany  did  this  in  187 1.  In  1874  the  Latin 
Union  (France,  Belgium,  Switzerland,  and  Italy) 
stopped  the  free  coinage  of  silver,  and  in  1878  stopped 
its  coinage  altogether.  Great  Britain  was  already  on 
the  gold  standard  (since  18 16),  and  Holland  and  the 
Scandinavian  countries  followed  in  the  same  course. 
This  widespread  change  was  made  possible  by  the  very 
great  increase  in  the  production  of  gold  after  the  dis- 
coveries in  California  and  Australia,  about  the  middle  of 
the  century.  Since  1850  there  has  been  more  gold 
added  to  the  world's  stock  than  in  all  the  years  up  to 
that  date  since  the  discovery  of  America. 

Thus   the  act  of  Congress  of  1873  was  in  line  with 

of^siiver.  ^  ^"^^  what  the  rest  of  the  world  was  doing.  But  a  few  years 
later  silver,  which  had  been  fairly  steady  in  price  for 
many  years,  suddenly  dropped  in  the  London  market. 


Some  Questions  of  the  Day.  349 

The  demand  in  European  states  had  practically  ceased. 
And  just  then  the  American  mines  began  to  yield  in 
enormously  greater  quantities.  This  latter  cause  alone 
would  have  caused  the  price  of  silver  to  fall. 

Then  there  was  urgent  pressure  for  the  remonetization 
of  silver.  In  1878  the  silver  dollar  again  became  a  legal  The  act  of  1878. 
tender,  and  the  treasury  was  obliged  to  buy  a  certain 
amount  of  silver  each  month  and  to  coin  it.  Certificates 
were  issued  for  the  silver  thus  coined,  and  it  was  these 
certificates,  and  not  the  coins,  which  actually  circulated. 
In  1890  this  act  was  followed  by  another,  extending  still  The  act  of  1890. 
further  the  government  purchases. 

In  1893  Grover  Cleveland  was  a  second  time  inaugu- 
rated president.  And  in  a  few  days  he,  like  Van  Buren,  1893.^^"'*^° 
was  confronted  with  a  great  business  panic.  The  steady 
purchases  of  silver  by  the  government  since  1878  had 
not  prevented  the  continuous  fall  of  the  price.  And  in 
1893  India,  which  had  been  a  great  market  for  silver, 
also  closed  its  mints  to  silver  coinage.  There  were 
doubt  and  uncertainty  as  to  the  future  conditions  of  busi- 
ness. Banks  failed  in  great  numbers.  Cash  seemed  to 
disappear.  In  the  midst  of  this  distress  a  special  sessioa 
of  Congress  was  convened,  and  the  act  of  1890  was  re- 
pealed. But  this  did  not  rescue  the  country  from  busi- 
ness disaster.  Only  in  1895  are  there  signs  of  renewed 
prosperity. 

But  tariffs  and  currency,  important  as  they  are,  have  Education  and 
not  exhausted  the  activities  of  the  republic  of  to-day.  In  ^^''^lon. 
all  lines  of  social  life  there  has  been  growth  as  marked  as 
in  material  development.  The  churches  are  strongly  or- 
ganized and  vigorously  alive  to  the  needs  of  the  times. 
Schools  were  never  so  numerous  or  so  well  supported. 
The  American  system  of  free  public  education  is  firmly 
established  in  all  the  states,  and  in  the  West  and  South 


350  The  Growth  of  the  A7nerican  Nation. 


service. 


is  extended  to  the  higher  education.  The  great  state 
universities,  like  those  of  Michigan  and  Wisconsin  and 
Minnesota,  count  their  students  by  thousands.  And 
the  older  institutions,  Harvard  and  Yale  and  Columbia, 
were  never  so  thronged  as  now. 

The  civil  The  spoils  systcm  introduced  into  our  national  admin- 

istration in  Jackson's  time  has  sufficed  to  demoralize 
politics  in  all  the  states.  Each  change  of  parties  has 
been  accompanied  by  a  "  clean  sweep  ' '  of  federal  offi- 
cials. The  efficiency  of  public  service  has  been  lessened. 
The  time  of  administrative  officers,  from  the  president 
down,  has  been  largely  consumed  in  deciding  the  distri- 
bution of  offices  among  partisan  followers.  And  at  last 
the  life  of  the  chief  magistrate  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  perni- 
cious system.  In  1880  the  Republican  candidate,  James 
A.  Garfield  of  Ohio,  was  chosen  president.  He  was  in- 
augurated in  March,  1881.     And  in  the  following  July , 

Garfield,  1881.  while  about  to  take  the  train  to  attend  the  commence- 
ment exercises  of  his  alma  mater,  Williams  College,  the 
president  was  shot  by  a  half-crazed  office-seeker  who 
had  not  succeeded  in  securing  the  appointment  he  de- 
sired. After  a  few  weeks  of  suffering  President  Garfield 
died  and  Vice-president  Arthur  succeeded  to  his  duties. 
President  Grant  made  an  effort  to  secure  a  reform  in  the 

The  civil  serv-  .         .  .  .  1  -i       t 

ice  act,  1883.  civil  scrvicc,  but  without  much  avail.  In  1883,  however, 
an  act  was  passed  which  provided  for  a  national  civil 
service  commission,  and  for  the  introduction  of  the  merit 
system  into  a  portion  of  the  administrative  departments. 
Since  then  considerable  progress  has  been  made  in  the 
extension  of  that  system,  and  it  now  seems  likely  that 
the  time  is  not  distant  when  spoils  politics  will  disappear. 
With  the  great  development  in  complexity  of  social 

Labor  reform,  j^fg  many  of  the  problems  which  are  so  pressing  in  Eu- 
rope are  also  just  as  obviously  urgent  here.     The  demo- 


Assassination  of 


ization. 


Corporations 


Some  Questions  of  the  Day.  351 

cratic  trend  of  the  age  is  plainly  apparent  everywhere, 
but  nowhere  more  than  in  the  democratic  republic. 
And  one  of  its  most  conspicuous  forms  is  the  great  im- 
provement in  the  condition  of  those  who  work  with  their 
hands.  Wages  tend  upward  and  hours  of  toil  tend  to 
lessen.  But  this  is  accompanied  with  bitter  strife  at 
times  between  employers  and  employed.  Neither  class 
has  yet  learned  the  golden  secret  of  peaceable  coopera- 
tion. 

The  form  which  modern  society  is  takinsf  is  more  and   „    .  , 

■'  ^  _     ^        Social  organ- 

more  that  of  organization.    Isolated  attempts  of  capitalists 

to  transact  business  on  a  small  scale  are  changed  for 
combined  action,  whereby  cost  is  reduced,  efficiency  is 
multiplied,  and  so  profits  are  swollen.  Railroad  and 
telegraph  lines  are  united  in  great  systems.  The  same 
is  done  with  many  forms  of  manufacturing.  And,  finally,  and'trusts. 
rival  companies  have  combined  in  the  shape  of  trusts  for 
the  elimination  of  excessive  competition.  Among  labor- 
ing men  the  same  process  is  apparent.  ' '  Unions  ' '  and 
"orders"  are  numerous,  and  not  infrequently  attempts 
are  made  at  their  combination  into  still  more  inclusive 
associations.  The  result  of  organization  among  work- 
ingmen  has  been  on  the  whole  a  gain,  although  too  fre- 
quently unwise  leadership  has  precipitated  needless  and 
costly  strikes.  And  at  times  these  have  led  to  riots 
which  it  has  taken  military  force  to  put  down. 

Another  very  striking  form  of  modern  life  is  the  aggre-  ^pj^^  deveiop- 
gation  of  people  in  cities.  This  is  distinctively  an  urban  ment  of  cities, 
age.  The  rapidity  with  which  transportation  and  the 
transmission  of  intelligence  are  effected  has  made  it  pos- 
sible for  masses  to  live  close  together.  And  the  indus- 
trial arts  which  modern  inventions  have  created  make 
this  condensing  of  population  profitable  and  necessary. 
Accordingly  the  towns  and  cities  have  far  outstripped 


Labor  unions. 


352  The  Growth  of  the  American  Natio7i. 


Great  increase 
in  urban  popu- 
lation. 


Failure  in  our 
methods  in 
governing 
cities. 


The  temperance 
reform. 


the  rural  communities  in  the  present  century.  At  the 
time  of  the  first  census  (1790)  only  about  three  per 
cent  of  the  American  people  lived  in  cities.  There  were 
only  six  cities  with  a  population  exceeding  8,000.  Phil- 
adelphia was  the  metropolis,  with  42,000  people,  and 
New  York  came  next  with  33,000.  In  1890  there  were 
437  cities  with  8,000  or  more,  containing  in  all  twenty- 
nine  per  cent  of  the  whole  population  of  the  country. 
New  York  had  a  million  and  a  half  people,  and  Chicago 
and  Philadelphia  each  over  a  million.  And  the  rapidity 
of  growth  is  as  extraordinary.  Chicago  had  4,000  peo- 
ple in  1840,  less  than  30,000  in  1850,  109,000  in  i860, 
nearly  300,000  in  1870,  half  a  million  in  1880,  over  a 
million  in  1890.  Minneapolis,  Omaha,  Denver,  are 
great  and  beautiful  cities  to-day.  Before  the  Civil  War 
they  hardly  existed. 

Our  frame  of  government  was  devised  for  a  rural  pop- 
ulation. When  applied  to  the  crowded  masses  of  a 
great  city  like.  New  York  it  has  not  worked  to  perfection. 
Corruption  and  inefficiency  have  been  too  conspicuous 
in  nearly  all  our  large  urban  communities.  Organized 
gangs  of  plunderers,  masquerading  under  the  name  of 
national  political  parties,  have  seized  city  government 
and  disgraced  the  American  name  by  dishonesty  and 
mismanagement.  There  is  no  problem  more  grave  than 
that  of  rescuing  civic  life  from  this  corrupt  and  corrupt- 
ing influence. 

Drunkenness  is  a  vice  apparently  as  old  as  human 
society.  In  the  present  century  there  has  been  a  great 
and  determined  movement  for  its  suppression.  This 
has  at  first  taken  the  direction  of  mere  moral  suasion 
addressed  to  individuals.  But  later  it  has  entered  public 
life,  and  in  some  shape  is  embodied  in  the  legislation  of 
many  states.     Some,   like  Maine,   have  prohibited  the 


Some  Questions  of  the  Day. 


353 


manufacture  or  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  to  be  used 
as  beverages.  Others,  like  Minnesota,  have  high  license 
laws — allowing  liquors  to  be  sold,  but  exacting  a  license 
fee  of  $  I,  GOO  in  large  cities  and  $500  in  small  ones. 
South  Carolina  has  enacted  a  state  monopoly  of  dis- 
pensing this  kind  of  merchandise,  thus  insuring  liquors 
against  adulteration  and  at  the  same  time  making  it  pos- 
sible to  regulate  the  sale  easily.  The  whole  question  is 
made  more  difficult  by  the  fact  that  so  many  people  of 


High  licenses. 


FJT,;: 


The  Brooklyn  Bridge. 


European  birth  and  education  have  been  added  to  our 
number.  With  them  the  use  of  wines  and  malt  liquors 
is  accompanied  with  quite  different  results  and  ideas 
from  those  to  which  Americans  are  accustomed.  The 
American  saloon  is  an  institution  indigenous  to  our  soil, 
like  potatoes  and  tobacco.  But  it  has  hardly  proved  a 
blessing. 

These  are  but  a  few  of  the  many  social  questions 
which  are  crowding  upon  us.  They  need  for  their  settle- 
ment the  ripest  wisdom  which  can  be  attained. 


European 
customs. 


The  saloon. 


354  '^^^^  Growth  of  the  American  Natio7i. 


Foreign  policy. 


The  French  in 
Mexico. 


A  new  inter- 
national 
position. 


To-morrow. 


Meanwhile  the  United  States  is  a  nation  among  na- 
tions, and  its  foreign  relations  are  often  of  grave  inter- 
est. The  Monroe  Doctrine  has  become  a  well-settled 
principle.  Since  the  destruction  of  slavery  there  is  no 
longer  a  disposition  to  grasp  at  territorial  acquisition  at 
the  expense  of  adjacent  powers.  But,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  great  republic  cannot  permit  its  weaker  neighbors 
to  be  oppressed  by  any  European  injustice.  While  the 
Civil  War  was  absorbing  all  our  energies,  France,  under 
the  Second  Empire,  invaded  Mexico  and  set  up  an  im- 
perial government  in  that  republic,  with  Maximilian  of 
Austria  on  the  throne.  The  United  States  steadily  pro- 
tested against  this  proceeding,  but  without  avail.  In 
1865,  however,  the  Civil  War  was  ended,  and  a  great 
veteran  army  was  available.  The  courteous  remon- 
strances of  the  United  States  thereafter  had  more  weight 
at  Napoleon's  foreign  office,  and  after  a  decent  interval 
the  French  armies  were  withdrawn  from  Mexico.  The 
empire  of  Maximilian  at  once  fell,  and  that  unhappy 
prince  was  captured  and  shot. 

The  world  is  narrower  than  it  was  in  Jefferson's  time. 
Steam  and  electricity  bind  the  nations  together.  And  so 
we  cannot  be  indifferent  to  what  is  going  on  across  the 
seas.  ' '  Peace  and  honest  friendship  with  all  nations, 
entangling  alliances  with  none, "  is  a  maxim  from  which 
we  shall  not  be  likely  to  depart.  But  as  one  of  the 
great  powers  we  owe  something  to  the  advance  of 
humanity  throughout  the  globe.  We  are  creating  a 
modern  navy  for  our  protection  against  aggression.  We 
shall  not  use  it  to  oppress  others.  But  it,  like  the  armies 
of  1865,  will  give  weight  to  our  opinions  in  international 
questions. 

And  as  the  century  draws  to  its  close  we  realize  that 
we  are  no  longer  colonies  ;  we  are  no  longer  commer- 


Some  Questions  of  the  Day. 


355 


daily  dependent  on  the  whims  of  European  belligerents, 
as  in  the  time  of  the  Napoleonic  wars  ;  we  are  no  longer 
provincially  dependent  on  European  opinion,  as  before 
our  own  Civil  War.  As  a  nation  the  republic  has  ripened  The  republic 
into  mature  life.  And  at  the  same  time  we  see  plainly  '"^'^"^^• 
that  the  work  which  lies  before  us  is  even  more  momen- 
tous than  any  which  this  eventful  century  of  ours  has 
wrought. 


«g» 


The  United  States  Capitol  at  Washington. 


INDEX. 


Abolitionists,  275,  282-3,  291. 

Acadians,  45. 

Adams,  John,  103,  126,  131-2. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  189,  191,  200. 

Alabama  Claims,  331. 

Albany  conference,  84. 

Alien  and  Sedition  Laws,  135. 

America,  15,  19,  20. 

American  neutrality,  120. 

American  representation,  72. 

Americus  Vespucius,  20,  note,  22. 

Appointing  power,  105. 

Bancroft,  George,  56,  267. 

Bank  of  the  United  States,   112,   195, 

237,  252. 
Bell,  John,  307. 
Berlin  decree,  167. 
Blaine,  James  G.,  336. 
Blockades,  166. 
Boston,  34,  78. 
Braddock,  48. 
Brazil,  22. 
Breckinridge,  308. 
Brook  Farm,  266. 
Bryant,  William  CuUen,  267. 
Buchanan,  James,  304-5. 
Burgoyne,  81. 
Burr,  Aaron,  136,  216. 
Cabinet  organized,  105. 
Cabot,  John,  22. 

Calhoun,  J.  C,  193,  227,  231,  247. 
California,  288,  292,  301. 
Carolinas,  32,  325. 
"  Carpet-bag  "  government,  325. 
Cartier,  40. 
Cass,  Lewis,  291. 
Champlain,  40. 
Christendom  in  the  fifteenth  century, 

16. 
Cities,  143,  351. 


Civil  service,  156,  216,  226,  350. 
Civilization,   in  fifteenth  century,  18; 

in  colonies,  59-67. 
Clarke,  George  Rogers,  82,  83,  note, 

90. 
Clay,  Henry,  192,  200,  244,  286,  294. 
Cleveland,  Grover,  336,  337,  339. 
Climate,  effect  of,  26. 
Clinton,  De  Witt,  208. 
Colleges,  58. 

Colonization,  17,  24,  26,  30,  37,  43. 
Columbus,  18-20. 
Compromise  of  1850,  293,  294,  301. 
Connecticut,  35,  275. 
Constitutional  construction,   124,   152, 

154,  214,  232. 
Constitutional  Convention,  93,  276. 
Continental  Congress,  79,  85,  86. 
Cooper,  J.  F.,  267. 
Cornwallis,  83. 
Corporations,  259. 
Cotton,  277-8,  343. 
County  system,  219. 
Crawford,  200. 
Cumberland  Road,  204. 
Cunard,  296. 

Currency,  87,  235-8,  300,  345-9. 
Curtis,  George  W.,  266. 
Da  Gama,  18. 
Dallas,  A.  J.,  193,  195. 
Dallas,  Geo.  M.,  287. 
Davis,  Jefferson,  309. 
Debt,  national,  107-10,  155-6.  239,  334- 
Delaware,  66. 
Detroit,  175. 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  302,  311. 
Dred  Scott  case,  305-6,  307. 
Dutch,  25,  37,  46,  56. 
Education,  57,  218,  349. 
Emancipation  Proclamation,  314. 


357 


358 


hidex. 


Embargo,  122,  169,  206. 

Emerson,  R.  W.,  267. 

English  colonial  system,  61-2. 

English  settlements,  23,  26,  29. 

English  settlers,  31,  42,  68. 

Era  of  good  feeling,  189. 

Erie  Canal,  208,  217. 

Excise,  III. 

Federalist    party,    123-33,    137-8,    147, 

159- 
Fisheries,  60,  116. 
Florida,  283,  301. 
Fort  Sumter,  310,  313. 
France,  trouble  with,  132. 
Franklin,  Benjamin,  59,  68,  71,  84. 
Free  Soil  party,  291,  301,  304. 
French  and  English,  43,  47. 
French  in  Mexico,  354. 
French  Revolution,  118,  132,  138. 
French  settlements,  23,  26,  40. 
French  settlers,  24,  42. 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  293,  294,  301. 
Fulton,  Robert,  207,  295. 
Gage,  79. 

Gallatin,  Albert,  155. 
Garfield,  J.  A.,  333,  350. 
Garrison,  William  Lloyd,  282. 
Genet,  120-1. 
George  IIL,  73. 
Georgia,  32. 

Ghent,  treaty  of,  181,  189. 
Grady,  H.  W.,  343. 
Grant,  U.  S.,313,  325. 
Greeley,  Horace,  267,  328. 
Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  treaty  of,  290. 
Hamilton,  Alexander,  106,  107,  1 10-15, 

129,  134,  147,  190. 
Harrison,  Benjamin,  337. 
Harrison,    William    Henry,    177,    179, 

251-4. 
Hartford  Convention,  273. 
Harvard,  34,  58. 
Hawthorne,  266. 
Hayes,  R.  B.,  330. 
Hudson,  Henry,  37. 
Huguenots,  32,  56. 
Illinois,  158. 

Immigration,  119,  144,  340. 
Impressment  of  seamen,  122. 
Income  tax,  340. 
Indians,  20,  28,  82. 


Indies,  18,  20,  37,  117. 

Internal  improvements,  202-9. 

Inventions,  143,  277,  295,  299. 

Irving,  Washington,  267. 

Jackson,  Andrew,  192,  200,  210,  222-5. 

Jamestown,  30. 

Jay,  John,  106,  123,  147,  216,  218. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  105,  125,  126,  136-7, 

144-5,  148.  159-63,  169-70,  204. 
Johnson,  Andrew,  323. 
Joliet,  41. 
Kansas,  302-3. 
Kentucky,  116,  139,  142,  152. 
Ku  Klux  Klan,  327. 
La  Salle,  41. 
Lee,  R.  E.,  312,  315,  322. 
Lexington,  79. 
Liberal  Republicans,  328. 
Lincoln,  Abraham,  307,  322,  323. 
Literature,  266. 
Local  government,  213-23. 
London  Company,  29. 
Longfellow,  H.  W.,  267. 
Louisburg,  45,  48,  49. 
Louisiana,  49,  153,  278-9. 
Lovejoy,  E.  P.,  283. 
Madison,  James,  182. 
Magellan,  20. 
Maine,  35,  280. 

Manufactures,  115,  192,  234,  295. 
Marquette,  41. 
Marshall,  John,  133,  157,  240. 
Maryland,  31,  90. 
Mayflower,  33. 
McKinley  Act,  337-9. 
Mexican  War,  288. 
Missouri  Compromise,    196,  276,  293, 

303- 
Monroe  Doctrine,  126,  197. 
Monroe,  James,  191. 
Morse,  298. 
National  banks,  345. 
Naturalization  Act,  135. 
Navigation  Act,  61. 
Navy  department,  163. 
New  Hampshire,  35,  275. 
New  Jersey  plan,  94. 
New  Orleans,  178. 
New  Sweden,  39. 
New  York,  38,  214-18,  275. 
Newspapers,  60,  267,  299. 


Index. 


359 


Non-intercourse,  171. 

Northwest  Territory,  139. 

Nullification,  230-3,  269. 

Ohio,  140,  158. 

Orders  in  Council,  166,  167,  175. 

Ordinance  of  1787,  275. 

Oregon,  286. 

Panics,  194,  241,  306,  347,  349. 

Paper  money,  87,  92,  345. 

Paris,  treaty  of,  49. 

Pennsylvania,  36,  275. 

Perry,  Oliver  Hazard,  179. 

Pierce,  Franklin,  302. 

Pilgrims,  33. 

Pinckney,  C.  C,  132,  136,  146. 

Plymouth  Company,  33. 

Political  parties,  118,  123-33,  I45>   180, 

190,  245,  291,301,  304. 
Polk,  James  K.,  285. 
Population,  55,  63,  158,  295,  298. 
Portuguese,  21,  25. 
Quebec,  40,  47,  49. 
Quebec  Act,  78. 
Queenstown,  176. 
Railroads,  297,  342. 
Reconstruction,  321. 
Religion,  57,  261,  264,  349. 
Rhode  Island,  34,  97,  275. 
Ryswick,  treaty  of,  47. 
Salem,  34. 

Scott,  Winfield,  289,  301. 
Secession,  230,  309. 
Seward,  W.  H.,  216,  247 
Sewing  machine,  299. 
Slaves,  31,  55,  95,  273-81,  290,  294,  305-8, 

321. 
Social  life,  61-5,  127,  144,  258. 
Socialism,  265. 
Spanish  Americans,  197. 
Spanish  settlements,  25. 
Specie  circular,  243. 
Spoils  system,  216,  226,  250. 
Stamp  Act,  70,  75,  79. 
State  rights,  273-81,  310. 


Steamboats,  207,  295. 

Suffrage,  128,  215,  260,  327. 

Taney,  R.  B.,  240. 

Tariffs,  106,  190,  193,  196,  210,  225,  287, 

306,  335. 
Taylor,  Zachary,  288,  291. 
Telegraph,  electric,  298. 
Temperance,  265,  352. 
Tennessee,  116,  139,  142,  173,  325. 
Texas,  257,  284,  285,  286,  301,  325. 
Tilden,  S.J.,  329. 
Tobacco,  27-8,  31,  61. 
Town-meetings,  66,  219. 
Townshend,  Charles,  69. 
Tripoli,  163. 
Tyler,  John,  248,  254-6. 
Utrecht,  treaty  of,  47. 
Van  Buren,  Martin,  222,  228,  240,  248, 

285. 
Vermont,  116,  275. 
Verrazano,  40. 
Virginia,  29,  325. 
War,  Civil,  313-15- 
War,  Mexican,  288. 
War  of  1812,  173-83. 
Washington  City,  no,  177,  189. 
Washington,  George,  80,  93,  103,  125, 

127,  12S,  133. 
Washington,  treaty  of,  331. 
Wayne,  Anthony,  141. 
Webster,  Daniel,  245,  293. 
Weed,  Thurlow,  247. 
West  Virginia,  322. 
Western  lands,  89,  139,  205. 
Whig  party,  245,  291,  302. 
Whisky  Rebellion,  112. 
Whitney,  Eli,  142,  277. 
Williams,  Roger,  34. 
Wilmot  proviso,  290. 
Wilson  Act,  339. 
Writs  of  assistance,  75. 
X  Y  Z  papers,  133,  134. 
Yale  College,  58. 
Yorktown,  battle  of,  83. 


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Longitude  from  8   Washington 


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UNITED     STATES 

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